John Joseph O’Connor, Sr.
June 29, 1930 – October 24, 2025
Dedham, MA
After a long and full life, John passed away peacefully at the age of 95, surrounded by his loving family. Born in Lawrence, MA, John was the son of Timothy Augustine O’Connor and Viola Josephine (Campbell) O’Connor, descendants of Irish immigrants who came to New England for jobs in the textile mills. Tim was a plumber who died tragically at age 48 following an accident at work when John was only 11 years old. John attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence. He was a devout Catholic and for a time considered becoming a priest. But then he met his future wife, Gertrude Aurore Cote of Lawrence, and he never looked back. John and Gert married on November 6, 1953, a stormy day marked by landfall of Hurricane Irene. John attended Merrimack College (North Andover, MA) for several semesters, while Gert worked as a librarian in Lawrence. Then they moved to upstate New York for John's first job in electrical engineering, and they had 4 children in rapid succession. In 1960, the couple returned to Massachusetts and bought a home in Dedham, where their kids attended the public schools. John worked for 10+ years as a quality control engineer at Cornell Dubilier in Norwood, MA. This was the happiest time in John's life, with a regular routine of satisfying work from which he returned home every evening to his wife and young family. John and Gert became involved in many community activities in Dedham and enjoyed close friendships with neighborhood families. They were active parishioners of St. Mary's of the Assumption in Dedham. For this reason, when the semi-conductor sector of the electronics industry suffered cutbacks in the early 1970s, John chose not to relocate with his company. To lose his job was a blow, but he rebounded, going into the nursing home business with Gert as his partner. John's mother, a licensed practical nurse, worked there part time and lived in a house at the back of the property until her passing in 1975. During this period of their lives, John and Gert also purchased or built several apartment buildings and homes for rental or resale in communities surrounding Dedham.
John will be remembered by all for his great love of music. Every time he walked by a piano, he would sit down to pound out a show tune. His children inherited this love, as well as his love of sports and science. But John's greatest joy was always his family. Extended family members and kids gathered every summer at rental cottages on beaches north of Boston, where John and Gert had previously spent many happy times with their teenage friends. John and Gert helped their 4 children purchase homes when they married, 3 of them in Dedham, where they raised their own families. As their lives progressed, they enjoyed a period of weekly dinners with Gert's sister Claire at a local Dedham restaurant. When Gert's health began to decline, John's care ensured that her full life continued, and they traveled annually to Florida to spend time with Gert's brother Ray and his wife Jeanne. When Gert passed away in 2004, John sold the family home and was welcomed by his daughter Kathy and her husband, the recent late Paul R. Kelley (July 2025). John built an in-law addition onto their Dedham home, enabling him to enjoy an active family life with his grandchildren. The weekly family dinners continued, but moved to an establishment in Norwood. John particularly loved gathering all his children and grandchildren at his place for Christmas.
John is survived by his daughter Prof. M. Elizabeth (Betty) Fini and her husband John C. of Mansfield, MA; his son John (Jack) J. O’Connor, Jr. and his wife Jeanne M. (Zerbel) of Dedham, MA; and his daughter Kathryn (Kathy) A. Kelley of Dedham, MA. John and Gert's youngest child, William T. (Bill) O’Connor, died in 2023, but is survived by his wife Maria Edith (Mendez) O’Connor of Sumter, SC. John and Gert were blessed with 12 (now adult) grandchildren and (at last count) 15 beautiful great-grandchildren, many of whom spent summers with them at their vacation home in Newport, RI. John's only sibling, Air Force Capt. Kathleen (O'Connor) Henwood (Raymond) of Sacramento, CA, died suddenly in 1974 at age 48, coincidentally, the same age as her father Tim died. Kay's husband Raymond passed in 2005.
Visitation at the George F. Doherty & Sons Wilson-Cannon Funeral Home, 456 High St. Dedham on Wednesday, October 29, from 4-7pm. Funeral from the funeral home on Thursday, October 30, at 9am followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Mary Church, Dedham at 10am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Interment private.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in John’s memory to the Knights of Columbus Dedham, MA Council 234, P.O. Box 244, Dedham, MA 02026.