Richard E. O'Connor

NORTH GROTON, N.H. - Richard E. O'Connor, 71, of Hallsbrook Road, passed away Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, at the Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, on Sept. 13, 1943, he was the son of the late William C. and Ruth E. (Knowlton) O'Connor.

Richard attended elementary school in Bellows Falls, Black River High School in Ludlow, Vermont, and was a graduate of Montpelier High School, Class of 1961. He graduated from Vermont Technical College in 1963. He attended William and Mary and graduated from Syracuse University.

He joined the U.S. Navy and served his country proudly during the Vietnam conflict from 1964 to 1970 as a petty officer.

In 1966 he married Josephine Rose Palmisano in St. Monica Catholic Church in Barre.

After his honorable discharge from the Navy, Richard owned and operated his own TV and electronic business in Barre. Later he began a career with the F.A.A. Then he started another business in 1979, R.F. Communications in Burlington. He later worked at M.I.T. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was the lead engineer on the Nuclear Fusion Project until 1986. He then returned to F.A.A. where he retired as a program support manager in 1994. The family then moved to North Groton, New Hampshire, where they made their home.

He was a member of St. Matthews Catholic Church in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

Among his interests were outdoor photography, HAM radio operator and private pilot, but most of all he enjoyed spending precious time with his family. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend and will be missed by all who knew him.

Survivors include his wife of 48 years of marriage, Josephine O'Connor, of Groton; three daughters, Catherine Miller and her husband, James, of Manchester, New Hampshire; Carolyn John and her husband, Erik, of Bedford, New Hampshire; Patricia Wallace and her husband, Dwight, of Jonesboro, Maine; one son, Jeffrey O'Connor and his wife, Beth, of Merrimack, New Hampshire; one brother, William O'Connor and his wife, Kay, of Newport, Vermont.

He is also survived by his special grandchildren, Nathaniel, Ethan, Olivia, Corra Rose, Lauren and Sam as well as many nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian burial and celebration of his life will be held on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, at 11 a.m. at St. Monica Catholic Church in Barre. There will be no calling hours.

Burial, with full military honors, will follow the Mass at Hope Cemetery in Barre.

Contributions in his memory, for the kind and excellent care given to him and his family, can be made to: Catholic Medical Center, Attn: Kerri Degen, Unit E 100, 100 McGregor St., Manchester, NH, 03102 (tax deductable).

Arrangements are in the care of the Pruneau-Polli Funeral Home, 58 Summer St., Barre.