Michael John Connor

Obituary
Michael John (Mike) Connor passed away on March 18, 2025, after a long illness. Mike was born in Essex, England on March 24,1943. While living in London, he saw an ad from an American company recruiting young men to send to Texas for training in the seismic exploration field. He never looked back! The company was GSI, (Geophysical Services Incorporated). He worked for GSI, for 41 years and travelled extensively with the job. Places like China, the Middle East, Europe & UK and Australia. He met his wife Anne at the UK office in Croydon where they married in 1967.
They had two children, Stephen Phillip in 1969, and Michelle Diane in 1971. Steve and his wife gave birth to two girls, Ruth Anne & Faith Nichole. Mike so enjoyed his grand girls. He loved reading to them, playing chess & checkers with them, helping them with their piano lessons and swimming techniques, when they lived close by.
Mike & Anne started their life together in Dallas, Texas and moved around a lot in their 58 years together. They lived in Dallas, Austin, Richardson and Plano and even a short stay in Holland. He finished his working career in Houston and really enjoyed it there, taking in the fine culture of the world class Houston Symphony & Opera, and the antique shops, auctions and the wonderful plays at the Alley and other repertory theatres. He also loved the good food & beer of the Texas rodeos. He learned to line-dance and enjoyed country music, especially Willie Nelson.
While living in Plano, Mike decided they would build a family home in the trees and set about designing a beauty! One thing was necessary here, an English country garden,(yard). He hauled huge railroad ties and built up areas for plants and flowers to grow in abundance, and personally installed the very necessary sprinkler system, alone in July! Bringing a little bit of his English roots to his doorstep was the goal. In between this endeavor he received a Master's Degree at SMU.
Some summers he took the family back home (to the UK) and always managed to fit in a trip to the Lake District to hike the Fells. He found much peace and harmony in the beauty of them and did not mind walking through the mud, puddles and rain, and occasionally sunshine.
His business trips took him to many big, old cities and Mike loved to visit the antique shops and soon started collecting tiles. These were antique Victorian ceramic tiles that were used in the houses of that era, around fire places, dressing tables, mirrors etc. He liked the colors and designs of them and soon had a large collection that rivalled his enormous collection of books, mostly non-fiction. He always had 3-4 books on the go at the same time.
When it was time to retire, the obvious choice was to the Texas Hill Country and Kerrville in particular. Not finding exactly what they wanted, Mike decided to take on a house renovation project. Not a peaceful quiet retirement, but a change of pace and environment. They worked on the house for approximately 8 years before declaring it "finished". Then Mike set about finding other activities and joined the Ham Radio group, (something he enjoyed as a kid in England) and found satisfaction in serving the community with "Meals on Wheels". He could often be found in the pub (Grape Juice), sitting at a table in the corner, reading his favorite magazine, (The Economist), and enjoying a delicious meal with his favorite beverage, a good English Beer!
Over the years Mike took great pleasure in hosting a lot of family and driving them all over Texas to enjoy the beauty and history of it. He had a very pleasant, long life, lots of good friends and was well loved and will be missed, a great deal!
His ashes will be taken to the UK in the summer. Donations can be made to the "CurePSP" website.