Sean C. O'Connor

Sean Christopher O'Connor, 85, died on Saturday, March 15, 2025, after a long illness. He was born in Dublin on February 6, 1940 to Maud and John O'Connor. Educated in Ireland, he graduated from University College Dublin with a PhD in Chemistry. In 1965 he married Nuala Stanley and came to the United States to take a Post-Doctoral position at the University of Minnesota. Afterwards, they moved to Indianapolis where they had four children and Sean became a pharmaceutical scientist with Eli Lily. In 1981 he married for a second time to Maris Fiondella and joined Bristol-Myers as a Director of Drug Discovery. They moved with the company in 1986 to Wallingford, CT. In addition to science, Sean was greatly interested in languages. He worked with Bristol-Myers labs in Tokyo and study Japanese through courses and tutoring, becoming fluent enough to navigate the city ("I can talk top cab drivers"). He was fluent in the Irish language from his youth and studied Old and Middle Irish in summer courses in Manooth, Ireland. In retirement, he published four detective novels in Irish and also a collection of Dublin stories based on childhood experiences. He loved traveling, gardening and cooking, and insisted that his background as a chemist had made him a good cook. His specialties were Irish brown bread, Christmas pudding, and his famous raspberry jam. He was bright and witty and loving, full of enthusiasm and a devoted fan of Monty Python and The Hunt for Red October. He will be deeply missed. Sean is survived by his wife, Maris Fiondella O'Connor, his children: Cathal O'Connor (Suzanne), Emer O'Connor-Keller (Michael), Donal O'Connor (Erin), and Cormac O'Connor (Jennifer) as well as 23 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind his brother Rory O'Connor and his sister, Anne McCashin in Ireland. The family would like to thank the staff of Benchmark Senior Living at Hamden, especially the Harbor Community for their unfailing kind and skillful care of Sean and their compassionate help to Maris and the family. They would also like to thank the Visiting Angels and Constellation Hospice. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 AM on Thursday, April 3 at Church of the Resurrection in Wallingford, with burial following at St. John's Cemetery. Donations in memory of Sean may be made to: One Company Fund, Benchmark Senior Living, 201 Jones Road, Suite 300 West, Waltham, MA 02451 or Holy Trinity School. 11 North Whittlesey Avenue, Wallingford, CT 06492. To leave a message of remembrance, please visit www.BaileyCares.com. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Sean, please visit our floral store.