ojfoconn.html

The Enterprise, White Salmon, WA., November 2, 2000, page 22
Includes portrait

JOHN F. O'CONNOR

John F. "Red" O'Connor, 73, died at home in White Salmon on Oct. 24, 2000, after a brief illness.
Mr. O'Connor was horn in Chicago, Ill., on April 13, 1927, the eldest of seven, to Irish immigrants James and Mary O'Connor. There, he attended St. Ignatius Loyola High School, where he was a star athlete.
In World War II, he served in the Navy Hospital Corps and played catcher for the Great Lakes Naval Shipyard baseball team. At the University of Detroit, he lettered in three sports, graduating in 1951 with a business degree. Later that year, he married Marion Virginia "Ginny" Fitzgerald.
He started out selling insurance, but in 1954 took a job at Erb Lumber in Detroit and spent the rest of his working life in the lumber business. Besides Erb, he worked for Wickes, Metropolitan and Braver lumber companies in Michigan. In 1974, Mr. O'Connor moved the family to Portland. In Portland, he was first with Evans Products, then Hampton Lumber for about eight years, and most recently part-time with Gibbs Lumber until shortly before his death.
Mr. O'Connor was a sports trivia expert and a lifelong White Sox and Bears fan. He belonged to St. Joseph's church and was a regular at Santa Croce's.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years; sons Nick, John, Patrick, Mike and Dennis; daughters Virginia Doyle, Kathleen McNew, Mary Starr and Lucy Miller; brother William; sisters Joan Devereaux and Kay Davis; 12 grandchildren; uncounted nephews and nieces; and son-in-law Carl McNew, whom the family specially thanks for his help during this time.
Funeral services for Mr. O'Connor were held on Oct. 31, 2000, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Interment was at White Salmon Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Gorge, Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, or St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
Arrangements were by Gardner Funeral Home in White Salmon.