OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. – Harry Laurence Connor, 80, of Old Saybrook, Conn., died Saturday, Nov. 15, at home.

He was born in Lewiston, on Aug. 24, 1928, the son of the late Harry Daniel Connor and Margaret Gahagan Connor. As a youth growing up in Lewiston, he enjoyed many athletic activities, including boxing, hockey and football.

He attended St. Patrick’s School in Lewiston from grade 1 through 8. His family then moved to Venice, Calif., where he attended Venice Polytechnic High School. The family then returned to Lewiston, where he graduated from Lewiston High School in 1946.

After high school, he attended the Newman Preparatory School in Boston, Mass., then entered Bates College, where he studied journalism. He entered the U.S. Navy in 1951, and served aboard the USS Briareus, AR12, and the USS Proteus, AS19. He was honorably discharged in 1955. While in the service, he met Margaret Holly of Groton, Conn., and they were married in 1955. She predeceased him in February 2003.

After his military service, he attended the University of Maine and the University of Missouri School of Journalism, graduating from the latter in 1959. Upon graduation, he became a reporter for the Hartford Courant, and he and Margaret settled in Old Mystic, Conn.

Between 1959 and 1968, he was employed by General Dynamics Corporation as a technical writer and editor and public relations assistant, and also worked as a newspaper reporter and editor, science editor, corporate public relations man, and college teacher before joining the University of Delaware staff in 1968. He was the director of the Office of Public Information at Delaware from 1969 until 1979, earning his master’s in communications in 1976.

From 1979 through 1981, he worked as the director of Public Information at Miami University, where he also taught journalism.

In 1981, he and Margaret returned to Connecticut, where he worked as a technical writer and editor at General Dynamics in Groton, then moved over to the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center in New London as a technical writer and editor. He earned several awards and recognitions in this position before retiring in 1993. Margaret became permanently disabled in 1981, and he devoted his life to caring for her at home and providing her with the fullest life possible until her death in 2003.

In 2006, he began a happy new chapter of his life when he met Judith Gardiner of Old Saybrook at a cookout at the home of Scott Schoonmaker, his nephew. He and Judy were married in June 2007, and settled in Old Saybrook.

He was a devoted father and grandfather who loved to spend time with his family. His hobbies included golf, travel, reading, liberal politics, and listening to the music of the big bands.

Surviving are his beloved wife, Judy; son, Andrew, his wife, Greta, and their daughter Margot; son, Colin and his partner, Morgan Grimes.

He was predeceased by his wife, Margaret; sister, Margaret; and brothers, Kenneth and Jerome.