Brian O'Connell

Brian A. O'Connell, 70

Worcester - Brian A. O'Connell, 70, a member of the city's School Committee for the past 36 years, died Friday, October 18, 2019 in Worcester.

Brian dedicated the majority of his life to the improvement of public education in Worcester.

Brian was born in Worcester, the son of the late Andrew J. and Ireen P. (Bergin) O'Connell. His father was a dean and longtime member of the faculty at Worcester Academy and his mother was a public school principal in Leicester.

Brian grew up on the campus of Worcester Academy and graduated there in 1967. In recent years, he has lived on Union Hill only a few blocks from Worcester Academy.

Brian also graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1971 with honors and Harvard Law School in 1974.

After law school, he commuted for several years to Boston from Worcester where he served as a Law Clerk for Chief Justice Andrew A. Caffrey of the U.S. District Court and practiced law with a large law firm, Gaston Snow & Ely Bartlett.

With little interest in corporate law, Brian shifted in 1982 to the general practice of law in a small Worcester firm and began his full-time commitment to his home city.

In 1983, he ran successfully for the Worcester School Committee and has devoted infinite hours to his passion for education ever since. Through his school committee work and his expanding expertise with education and municipal laws, he later began to take limited administrative positions with local governments and public school systems where he could share his special knowledge.

Despite a successful professional life and many other interests, Brian's highest priority over the last 36 years has remained the Worcester School Committee and the Worcester Public Schools. He was first elected in 1983 after a recount and has been the top vote getter many times since. He is the longest serving member of the Worcester School Committee in the city's history. He worked successfully and cooperatively with five different school superintendents and nine different mayors. His achievements on the committee have shaped public education in Worcester for the benefit of tens of thousand of students, and thousands of teachers.

Brian's interest in the value of quality education went beyond the Worcester Public Schools. He actively participated in the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, serving as president of that organization in 1998, and played a role in the passage of the state's 1993 Education Reform Act. He was a former member of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Local Government and the Massachusetts Education Reform Review Commission.

Brian was a former Young Alumni Trustee of the College of the Holy Cross, served as President of the college's Alumni Association and on the board of the Holy Cross Club of Greater Worcester. He received the college's In Hoc Signo Award in 2013. He has been a trustee at Worcester Academy since 1976, served as President of the school's Alumni Association, and was inducted into the Worcester Academy Hall of Fame earlier this year. He was also a trustee of Anna Maria College in Paxton, and a former board member of the Worcester Educational Development Foundation.

Brian was a longtime member of St. John's Parish where he was a lector and member of the Parish Council. He was a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus.

Brian was a founding member of the Worcester St. Patrick's Parade Committee, and a supporter of countless other community organizations.

Brian leaves many cousins including twin cousins Mary Eichholz and Eleanor Menard, James, Dennis, and Edward Bergin, Ellen Brigham, Shelia Faneuff, Martha Sarmieato, Marie Miller, Marion Vancelette, John Bergin, Margaret Shivick, David and Francis Bergin, Ann Reno, Thomas Bergin, and Joseph Bergin Jr.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday, October 24, at 10 a.m. in St. John's Church, 40 Temple St., Worcester. Burial with his parents will be in St. Roch's Cemetery in Oxford. Calling hours are Wednesday, October 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Athy Memorial Home, 111 Lancaster St., Worcester.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Brian's memory are suggested to St. John's Church, 40 Temple St., Worcester, MA 01604, Worcester Academy, 81 Providence St., Worcester, MA 01604 or the Worcester Educational Development Foundation, 210 Park Ave., Worcester, MA 01609.