St John the Baptist Catholic Church was filled to overflowing on Wednesday as family and friends said their last fond farewells to well-known Perth businessman ‘Con’ Connaghan.
Aged 80, the former managing director of King Contractors, West Huntingtower, died in Perth Royal Infirmary on April 17 after a short illness.
In a wide-ranging and often humorous eulogy, his youngest son, Rory, paid tribute to his father’s work ethic, his love of family and his willing spirit.
“Although today is tinged with sadness, his is not a sad story,” Rory told the packed congregation.
“It is one of a generous, loving, funny, intelligent man who has loved and been loved and achieved such great things from such humble beginnings.
“He has always been surrounded by his family and has lived as full a life as any could hope for. He had so many great friends and helped so many others along the way.
“It’s been the greatest privilege and honour to be his son.”
Con was born in Muthill on November 15, 1941, to Irish immigrant parents, Edward and Hannah Connaghan.
“But he had a start in life no parent would wish for,” recalled Rory.
Not only was he born in the middle of World War II, he was a rhesus baby and infants at that time had a “very slim” chance of survival.
But a young medical practitioner intervened and performed a full blood transfusion on the child.
“In recognition of his excellent care, Hannah and Edward decided to name their second son Columbas, after the doctor who saved his life.”
Despite his birth name, he was known to everyone as Con and he and his older brother Eddie were sent to Donegal to see out the war and start their schooling.
They were reunited with their parents in Muthill in the late 1940s and brothers Charles, John and Joe arrived in subsequent years.
Many of the boys were keen athletes and football, weightlifting and boxing were all pastimes they enjoyed. Con was also a keen footballer and one of his proudest moments was scoring for local team Muthill in a 2-2 draw with Perth Celtic.
By the time the late 1950s came around, Con was a “fully fledged Teddy Boy” and loved the music of Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochrane and Duane Eddie.
He and his friends travelled to dances throughout Perthshire every weekend and it was at one of those that he met “the love of his life,” Madge Houston.
After their courtship, they were married in 1962 and following a honeymoon in Edinburgh, they lived for a short time in Muthill before moving to their first home in Perth’s Union Street.
Their first son, Hughie, was born in 1963, followed by Barry in 1968 and then, following a move to Glengarry Road, Rory arrived 10 years later.
The family then moved to the house that Con built for them at Huntingtower, where he lived until his passing 38 years later.
Con and Madge both loved dancing, particularly jiving, and the family have happy memories of him and Madge “strutting their stuff” at parties and weddings over the years.
“While, like all families, we have had our trials and tribulations, we always faced them together,” recalled Rory.
“My enduring thoughts and memories are of a family bound together by a deep love for one another and a home filled with support, love, music and laughter.
“And our dad was the beating heart of that. It will be that love which I hope will get us through this difficult time.”
Con brought up all of his sons to work hard and treat others as they found them.
“It’s nice to be nice and civility costs you nothing were phrases he picked up from his own father, Edward, and it was a mantra he lived by.”
Con started his working life in the building trade as a labourer before becoming one of the “boys from the Black Stuff,” building roads and bridges.
“He set about learning all he could, attending college in Falkirk under his own steam to attain qualifications that would help him progress in his chosen field.
“And progress he did - from ganger, to foreman, to general foreman and then onto managing director of King Contractors.”
They had a fleet of vans and lorries which carried out road resurfacing and civil engineering work throughout Tayside and the length and breadth of the country and he was immensely proud that he was able to provide so many jobs in the Perth area.
“Never one to rest on his laurels,” stated Rory, he proved to be a great innovator and, under his leadership, King Contractors were the first company in Scotland to invest in cutting edge paving machinery and he was also a pioneer of the use of recycled building materials in road construction.
“I’ve always thought it fitting that he built roads and bridges,” stated Rory. “Because to me one of his greatest skills was communication. He was amazing at it.
“He could put people at ease in any situation and fit into any company effortlessly.
“There wasn’t any trick to this - he was good at it because he cared about people and he loved talking to them - and they loved talking to him.”
Con and Madge shared a passion for travel, with trips to Ireland, Corfu and Spain, as well as city breaks to Prague, Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels high on the agenda.
Con was also a passionate Celtic supporter and watched them play at home and away.
As Con’s retirement approached, his wife was diagnosed with cancer, which ultimately took her life, and they were robbed of quality time together they so richly deserved.
“Her death was a huge blow to him - and all of us,” reflected Rory. “Yet he found amazing strength from his family and his faith in the years following her loss.”
Wednesday’s funeral was conducted by Canon Steven Mulholland and donations in memory of Con were accepted at the Melville Street church for Mary’s Meals.
Following his interment at Wellshill Cemetery, family and friends met for refreshments in the Civil Service Club.
