James O'Connor

1939 - 2021

O'Connor, James
1939 - 2021
James R. O'Connor, 82, of Westerville, Ohio, passed on May 20, 2021 to his eternal rewards. Jim was the son of Joseph (a native of Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland) and Marguerite O'Connor, who have preceded him in death, in Lima, Ohio. Jim was also predeceased by a brother Jack, and his sister Patty. Jim was a proud graduate of Lima Senior High School, class of '57. He was a member of the last basketball and baseball team at Lima Central, and was also on the first basketball and baseball team at Lima Senior. Baseball was his consuming interest, and he played semi-professionally until age 30 in leagues throughout the Lima-Findlay areas. Jim was a loyal lifetime fan of the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns. He is a 1961 graduate of Ohio Northern University, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree with a major in mathematics. He also is a 1964 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was awarded his Master's degree in counseling through the provision of an NDEA scholarship. Jim helped his alma mater, UW, in representing them in college fairs both at Capital University and Otterbein University, as UW's admissions staff do not travel this far east from Madison. Jim also served on the local Big Ten scholarship award selection team for UW-Madison. Jim received his PhD from Ohio State University in 1973 with dual majors in counseling and teacher education. He completed additional fellowships at the University of Dayton in graduate mathematics and at Indiana University in graduate level counseling and guidance. Starting his career in Findlay, Ohio as a math teacher, Jim was later a guidance counselor there. For many years he was a state supervisor of Guidance and Testing for the Ohio Department of Education, and later served ODE as a career education supervisor. Late in his career, as an adjunct professor, he taught graduate-level courses for several years at Xavier University, and undergraduate courses at Ohio Dominican College. A long-time member of the Shamrock Club of Columbus, Jim is proud of his establishment of the annual Ann Richens Irish Dance Scholarship now administered by the Columbus Foundation, given annually to a deserving young Irish Dance student from local accredited dance schools. He also was proud to serve as chairman of the Irish Way Scholarship program for eleven consecutive years, sending a deserving high school student to Ireland each summer, and to restructure a funding plan that enabled the local Irish community to continue offering this scholarship annually despite rapidly increasing costs of the scholarship. Jim was also active in local youth baseball, having coached 12 years in the Westerville JBBL green, red, and blue leagues. Jim married the love of his life, Joy Orchard, in 1960, and together they enjoyed 60 wonderful years of marriage. He is survived by three children, whom have made them extremely proud and happy, Kelly (Rick) Sitz, Stephen (Deb) O'Connor, and Shannon (Vicki) O'Connor; as have their five grandchildren, Brittany (Brandon) Martell, Connor Sitz, Matt, Alex, and Kerry O'Connor; as well as two sisters, Peg Connelly, and Beth (Peter) Harveson. A celebration of Jim's life will be held at Church of the Messiah in Westerville at a later date and time. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Ann Richens Irish Dance Scholarship, c/o Columbus Foundation, 1234 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43205-1453, or to the Ohio Northern Now Scholarship, ONU Advancement, 525 South Main St., Ada, OH 45810. To send a message of sympathy to the family, please visit:
www.OhioCremation.org