Cornelia “Connie” Adamson Battle, an extraordinary sister, mother, and friend, died on April 22 in Savannah, Georgia, at the age of 79. Connie grew up in Decatur, GA, briefly attended the University of Georgia, and had many lifelong friends. Connie also never met an animal she didn’t immediately love. She was a magnet for stray dogs and cats, rode horses most of her life, and nursed animals back to health, including owls, squirrels, opossum, and more.

Connie was a force of nature and refused to be told no, to the chagrin of many people. From winning a school turkey shoot in 1977 that “mothers had no place entering” to breaking horses that others called “untrainable,” Connie could do most anything she set her mind to. Her exploits included jumping off a deep-sea fishing boat to fight a barracuda from the kingfish she had just caught; earning her fox-hunting colors and jumping horses expertly; driving 5,000 miles from Atlanta to Anchorage, Alaska, on a two-week journey with her son Graham; happily feeding and housing her son Adam and ten of his college friends for a week in New Mexico as they built a horse tack room; and climbing and exploring the staggering heights of Peru’s famed Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu at the age of 65.

Some of the happiest times in Connie’s life were spent volunteering as the horse wrangler at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, where she lived with her late husband Tom Guiles in the 1990s. At this high desert ranch owned by the Presbyterian Church, Connie’s menagerie included cats, dogs, horses, ducks, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, and probably more. She would lead horseback rides up the mesas and would turn and loudly sing “turrrr-keeeeeys,” and to the delight of other riders, moments later they would hear a chorus of gobbling from the distance.

Connie lived off and on in Tybee Island, GA, in a home she built with Tom on the marsh. She spent time volunteering at the Tybee Historical Society, working with a local cat rescue, minding a gift shop where she would chat with visitors, and walking the beach with Tybee family and friends. Later in life, Connie was married to Pat Battle of Gainesville, GA, who was a friend from high school and a veteran of the US Army. Connie stayed by Pat’s side through his fight with multiple sclerosis. Upon his death in 2021, she returned to Tybee Island.

Connie is survived by her sister, Burgess Johnson and husband Ken of Fort Mill, SC; brother, Walter Adamson of Tybee Island, GA; her son, Graham Dunstan of New York, NY; and her son, Adam Dunstan and wife Jennifer of Canton, GA, and their children (Connie’s grandchildren) Addison and Will. The family is planning a celebration of her adventurous life in the near future. If you would like to honor Connie, please consider a donation to your local chapter of the ASPCA or adopt a pet…or two.