Cornelius (Neil) Thomas O'Connor

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Cornelius (Neil) Thomas O?Connor

Nov. 19, 1936 ~ Nov. 13, 2020

Neil O’Connor passed away peacefully at home, at the age of 83, on November 13, 2020 from esophageal cancer, which he had been battling for 3 1/2 years. He was born November 19, 1936 in New York City to Jeremiah Daniel and Marie Celeste Lane O’Connor. He spent approximately 5 1/2 years in The Children’s Hospital for Bone and Joint Diseases in Far Rockaway, New York before moving to Salt Lake City with his family.

He attended Lowell Elementary, St. Ann’s Catholic School and St. Francis School for Boys, Watsonville, California and graduated from Judge Memorial Catholic High School in 1954. He attended the University of Utah on an opera scholarship, but then enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1956 for four years. He then returned to the University of Utah and graduated in 1965 with a B.S. in public administration.

He worked as a real estate agent for 28 years and also was employed by the Bureau of Reclamation and as an assistant neuropharmacologist at the University of Utah lab. He then moved to Hanna, Wyo., where he was a municipal judge. He later returned to Salt Lake City and sold advertising for the Utah Symphony and The Event newspaper. He moved to New York City in 1990 to attend the National Shakespeare Conservatory and after graduating, became an actor. He performed Shakespeare in New York State, Virginia and other locations in the Eastern U.S. Upon returning to Utah, he acted in movies, TV shows and commercials.

He married Geraldine Hecht in 1967; they divorced 15 years later. He met Kathleen McMahon at a Hibernian Society meeting in 1987 and they remained together until his death. A longtime member of the Hibernian Society of Utah, he was honored as Hibernian of the Year in 2016.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his older brother Thomas, older sister Peggy Haase and younger brother Peter. He is survived by his brother Michael J. O’Connor (Marguerite) and 25 nieces and nephews.

A very big thank you to the staff at the VA Hospital for taking care of him over the years, and to Harmony Home Health and Hospice Care and Beehive Senior Care for their kind help during the last months of his life.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City in the name of Father Patrick Carley.