Joseph L. O'Connor

ALBANY Joseph Louis O'Connor, 88, formerly of Cairo, N.Y., died Thursday, January 19, 2006 after a courageous battle with cancer. Born and educated in Yonkers, N.Y., he was the son of the late Joseph and Christine Kopp O'Connor. Mr. O'Connor was an Army veteran of World War II. After moving his family to Cairo, Greene County in 1958, he commuted weekly to his job at Refined Syrups and Sugars in Yonkers. In 1967, he left his job in Yonkers to work closer to home and to be able to spend more time with his wife and family. He retired from Fleet Bank (Bank of America) in Cairo in 1982. Together with his late wife, he moved to Albany in 1997. Mr. O'Connor was a longtime communicant of Sacred Heart Church in Cairo and, more recently, a communicant of St. James Church. He was an avid thoroughbred racing fan and a long-suffering fan of the NY Mets. Husband of the late Ida Lucy McCue O'Connor; father of Louis (Marcia) O'Connor of Stamford, N.Y., Joseph (the late Ileana) O'Connor of Miami Lakes, Fla., Bernadette (Warren) Hoovler of Haines City, Fla., Janet (Wayne) Birk of Venice, Fla., Ronald (Joan) O'Connor of Ancram, N.Y., Rita (Jesse) Nelson of Collegeville, Pa., Gary O'Connor of Albany, Mary (Peter) Reinsdorf of Niverville, N.Y. and Sheila (Patrick) Gallagher of Yalesville, Conn.; also survived by 26 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren; several nieces, nephews; and his dear sister-in-law, Lois McCue Curran and her husband Leonard of Orangeburg, N.Y. He was predeceased by a grandson, Joel Ray O'Connor, in 1998. The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to the staff and volunteers of Community Hospice, especially Sarah Gifford, RN-Case Manager, and the nurses in the Hospice Inn for their compassionate care and the kindness extended to the family during a very difficult time. A funeral service will be held on Monday at 9 a.m. in St. James Church, 391 Delaware Ave., Albany. Relatives and friends are invited and may call at the Daniel Keenan Funeral Home, 490 Delaware Ave., Albany on Sunday from 2-6 p.m. Interment, Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Schuylerville, N.Y. Those who wish may send memorial contributions in his name to the Community Hospice of Albany County, 445 New Karner Rd., Albany, NY 12205 or to the Food Pantry, St. James Church, 391 Delaware Ave., Albany, NY 12209.