Joel Connelly: 1948-2026
by Andrew Villeneuve
It is with the utmost sadness and the heaviest of hearts that I write tonight to eulogize my dear friend and the Northwest Progressive Institute’s esteemed contributor Joel Connelly, an incredibly talented scribe who has been instrumental in building NPI into the influential and effective organization in regional politics that it is today.
Joel passed away peacefully this morning, with his family at his side, as announced by his stepchildren Melissa, Aaron, and Bellamy Pailthorp; they’ve released a statement that you can read at Joel’s personal website or on his Facebook page. Despite his battles with diabetes and other ailments, Joel had hoped to stick with all of us long enough to witness the end of the second Trump regime. Alas for us, he’ll be celebrating that occasion from up in heaven rather than here on Earth, as God has called him home.
It is hard to put into words how great of a loss this is — for the Pacific Northwest, for NPI, for the faith community Joel and I belonged to, for local and regional journalism, and for the conservation movement. The word immense feels inadequate. Joel’s reach was enormous, and his impact was extraordinary. His audience transcended national borders, as his devoted readers in British Columbia will attest. He wrote about pretty much every issue imaginable, but his favorite topics included conservation, the religious left, U.S.-Canada relations, and electoral politics at every level: local, state, federal.
Born and raised in Bellingham, Joel developed a love of the outdoors early on. He became a formidable advocate for protecting wild places, such as the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the Wild Sky Wilderness, the Arctic Refuge, and the Tongass. After graduating from high school, he attended Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where he sharpened his activism skills and was active in Eugene McCarthy’s insurgent presidential campaign, and then returned to the Pacific Northwest after earning his degree.
https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/04/joel-connelly-1948-2026.html