ROBERT HOWARD "ROB" McCONNELL, JR.

FORT VALLEY, GA - Robert Howard “Rob” McConnell, Jr., 61, passed away peacefully on Thursday, July 1, 2022, after an extended illness. Services will be held on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at First Baptist Church of Fort Valley. The Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. followed by the Funeral at 11:00 a.m. with Reverend Ed McQueen and Pastor Bobby Morrow officiating. Interment will be in Roberta City Cemetery immediately following the service. Flowers will be gratefully received, or memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Association, 886 Mulberry Street, Macon, GA 31201, or Pine Pointe Hospice, 6261 Peake Road, Macon, GA 31210. A Celebration of Life will be held in Atlanta for his family and friends there to gather and remember Rob. The details of that service will be updated here as soon as they are available. Rob was born in Atlanta to the late Robert H. McConnell, Sr., and the late Barbara Johnson McConnell. He grew up in Sandy Springs and graduated from Riverwood High School in 1979. He continued his education at the University of Georgia where he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. While a student in college, Rob worked as an electrician at the Student Center at UGA, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, a Master Electrician, who owned and operated McConnell Electric Company in Princeton, Kentucky. It was at UGA that he met the love of his life, Maria Mathews, and the couple soon married at Rob's home church, Wieucaa Road Baptist Church, in Atlanta where they were actively involved for over twenty years. Rob always knew he would be an entrepreneur and found his college degree to be most beneficial. His first position out of college was in IT, as Vice-President of BTG. As his skills grew and his desire to succeed increased, he and a business partner owned and operated Archimedes, a company that made irrigation systems for golf courses. After several years, he sold his interest in that business and founded Rob McConnell, Inc., RMI Homes. His passion became building custom, magnificent homes in the greater Atlanta area. Rob gave each one his special touch by placing as the “cornerstone” a brick engraved with TGBTG meaning “To God Be the Glory,” representing the Christian values on which his life and business stood. Very intelligent and always thinking, he was a man of integrity, a man of his word, and proud of the work he had done upon completion of each project. Rob was an active member of Buckhead Church for many years. A native Atlantan, he loved Atlanta, not because of the big-city characteristics and conveniences, but because it was his hometown. Rob was always very athletic and agile, snow skiing whenever the time and circumstances allowed. He was an avid runner and consistently ran in the Peachtree Road Race for over ten years. Rob enjoyed water skiing and wake boarding while spending time with his family at their vacation home on Lake Toxaway near Brevard, North Carolina, and teaching his children through the years to do the same. He and Maria loved traveling together, whether it was taking historical and architectural tours stateside and abroad or visiting their children around the United States after they went off to college. Rob retired from RMI in 2016 when his health began to decline. A diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer’s in his early fifties meant life would gradually become different than he ever thought or planned. In 2019, he and Maria moved to Middle Georgia to be near her family who could and did help care for Rob in his final years on this earth. He attended First Baptist Church of Fort Valley until he was prohibited by such a debilitating disease. Rob’s family is thankful for those who helped him through the rough times, as well as those who comforted him through his final days, especially his caregiver, Stanley Bakon, and the staff of Pine Pointe Hospice. Rob was preceded in death by his parents and a nephew, Lee Rickman. Left to cherish the memories they made with Rob are his loving and steadfastly devoted wife of nearly thirty-five years, Maria Mathews McConnell of Fort Valley; his children, Robert H. McConnell, III (Taylor) of Charleston, SC, Emma McConnell of San Francisco, CA, and Madison McConnell of New York, NY; his sisters, Patti Rickman (Tim) of High Point, NC, and Jane Boyd (Gary) of Birmingham, AL; many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and other extended family members. Condolences, pictures, and special memories may be left in the online guestbook for the family at www.watsonhunt.com. Watson-Hunt Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Tributes

ROBERT HOWARD "ROB" McCONNELL, JR.

July 27, 1960 - July 1, 2022