Ralph A. "Tony" O'Connell M.D.

1938 - 2021

Ralph A. O'Connell, M.D., ("Tony"), husband, father, grandfather, friend, psychiatrist, and educator, died peacefully of Alzheimer's at home on December 21st, 2021. Born on January 26th, 1938, at St. Anne's Maternity Home in Manhattan, to Agnes Harrington O'Connell and Ralph Eugene O'Connell, he grew up in the Bronx and Larchmont. Married to Jane Burke O'Connell for 58 years, he was a genuine and devoted New Yorker, frequenting museums, parking his car on the street, walking his beloved, if badly trained, dogs in Central Park, and attending the Philharmonic late into his 70's. He was intellectual, with a dry and sometimes irreverent sense of humor, a steadfast faith, a curious mind, and a generous heart. A lifelong sailor, he taught sailing at the Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett, NY. He was a music lover who enjoyed opera, classical music, and The Beatles, and who enthralled many generations of Burke and O'Connell children with his seemingly effortless ability to play piano by ear.
A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross with a B.A. degree (1959) and an M.D. degree (1963) from Cornell University Medical College, he received a fellowship at Oxford University Medical College (1962) and completed a surgical internship and psychiatric residency at Saint Vincent's Hospital where he was chief resident. He was a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps and Chief of Neuropsychiatry at Ireland Army Hospital in Fort Knox. After residency, he was vice chair and clinical director of Psychiatry at St. Vincent's until 1996 when he was appointed Provost and Dean of New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY, where he had been a faculty member since 1980. Prior to his association with New York Medical College, he was Associate Professor at Cornell University Medical College from 1967 to 1980. He retired in 2012 but remained on the teaching faculty until 2015, serving as the Vice Chairman for Research and then taught psychiatry at Metropolitan Hospital until 2017.
He published extensively in scientific journals and authored many book chapters and a paper that appeared in The Lancet while he was an intern. His research included studies on the psychiatric complications of cardiac surgery, the influence of biological and psychological social factors in the long-term outcome of bipolar disorder, and the use of single photon emission computed tomography brain imaging in psychiatric disorders. He served as the editor of Comprehensive Psychiatry.
He was a member and president of the Associated Medical Schools of New York, president of the New York Psychiatric Society, member of the American Medical Association, distinguished life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, fellow and trustee emeritus of the New York Academy of Medicine, fellow of the American Psychopathological Association, member of the American College of Psychiatrists, Trustee and vice chair of the board of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New York, chair of the Task Force on Medical Education for the Catholic Health Care Network (1996), and director of The Catholic Communal Fund.
Among his many honors were the Academy Plaque of the New York Academy of Medicine, national honor medical society, Alpha Omega Alpha, and the Distinguished Trustee Award from the United Hospital Fund.
He was president of the University Club of New York from 1993 to 1995, and active at the Misquamicut Club in Watch Hill, RI. He enjoyed swimming and sailing his beloved "Aunt Dolly" in the Atlantic Ocean in RI and walking on the beach. He made a tradition of swimming on Memorial Day, and sometimes New Year's Day, "to make sure your heart was working."
He will be remembered for his sense of humor and intellect, his values, and finely tuned moral compass, his love of dogs, and all things family. He will be missed as the Burke/O'Connell family genealogist, even publishing The Paper Napkin, which traced the family lines back to Ireland, and was filled with wonderful anecdotes about the clan.
He is survived by his wife Jane Burke O'Connell of 58 years, his daughter Ellen, granddaughter Kate, son John, sister Anne, and many nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and extended family. His son Ralph Eugene O'Connell III predeceased him in 2017.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York. A memorial service will be held in the Spring.