Mr. & Mrs. Ballantyne
Constance Aimee (Martin) Ballantyne, Connie, passed away gracefully on 8 June 2016, with her husband of 73+ years at her side. She was preceded to heaven by her brother Robert Arthur and sister Vivian Irene. Connie’s mother was a teacher, and her father was an architect.
Connie was born on 3 March 1923 in Southside Hospital in Bayshore, NY. She grew up in Garden City, NY, and attended The Stratford Avenue School and Garden City High School, advancing ahead of her class. Connie was great in math and sciences, and wanted to be a singer. She was president of her drama club, loved horseback riding and travel. Her favorite song while growing up was “Indian Love Call,” and her favorite flowers are gardenia, tulips and aster.
She met the love of her life, Reginald ‘Buck’ Ballantyne in 1939, and their first date was going to a polo match, followed by a bite to eat at Howard Johnson’s. She liked Buck because he was a gentleman and handsome. He liked her because she was “cute, blonde and fun.” They went to movies, dances and polo matches.
Although her mother told her they were too young, they married at 8 pm on 23 December 1942 in Spartanburg, SC, on their way to Fort Benning, GA, where Buck was preparing to deploy to Europe for WWII. Connie was a stay-at-home mother who raised six children. She took pride in the fact that each one is successful in their own way, and all are college graduates, and law-abiding good citizens, doing good for others. The family spent summers at the idyllic Hulett’s Landing on Lake George in the Adirondack mountains of NY.
Connie taught the family to waterski–you could say she taught much of the summer crowd at Hulett’s to waterski–and she was a skilled boat driver. She loved swimming, singing, and playing tennis. There wasn’t much she couldn’t do…except pass up chocolate; Connie loved chocolate!
After her six children were grown and on their own, she dove back into singing and acting, primarily with church groups and the local school fundraisers. She loved reading, summer swimming, watching “Jeopardy” and singing, especially “Danny Boy.”
When asked her favorite color, she’d say “Red and Blue,” likely because of her patriotism. She valued honesty, truth and trust.
She is survived by her husband of 73+ years, Buck, six children, Reginald III, Paula, Margot, Bruce, Peter and Barbara; ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Family will receive friends on Wednesday and Thursday from 2-4pm and 7-9pm at Donohue-Cecere Funeral Home, 290 Post Avenue, Westbury, NY, (516) 333-0615. Mass will be held this Friday at 10am at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, Carle Place, NY. Interment to follow at Calverton National Cemetery, Calverton, NY.