In Loving Memory of

James Richard O'Connor

of Edmonton
Mar 3, 2020

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our father, James Richard "Dick" O’Connor, at 87 years of age - Michael, Sharon (Keith), and Marcy (Gary). Our father was predeceased by our mother, Barbara (nee Wadsworth) after 55 years of marriage. He was fortunate to have four grandchildren – Blake (Heather), Graham (Bethany), Jennifer and Curtis (Vanessa). He also had five great grandchildren, Audrey, Ellie, Sterling, Grayden and Benton. He is survived by his brother, David (Nancy) along with their children and our Mother’s brothers and sisters and their families; Gary, Allan (Janis), Gayle (Austin), Kendall (Evelyn), Kay, Donald (Colleen) and Brenda (Herb).
Dad inherited a love of sports from his father and enjoyed playing badminton, baseball, golf, curling and bowling. He even took up yoga for a while and would stand on his head against a living room wall. He also loved playing crib and bridge with family and friends. From his mother, he gained an appreciation for the English language and would correct us when we made mistakes. He would often vent about the overuse of words like absolutely and awesome.
Dad was proud of his extensive career as employee relations manager with Imperial Oil and we’ve heard he was well liked at the plant. He would walk around the plant and knew most of the names of the people there as well as their spouses and families. Dad volunteered with Networks (social club for brain injured) where he would visit with people and play pool or cards with them. He was a long term volunteer with the public library delivering books to people in long term care.
The family would like to thank the nursing staff and caregivers at the Grey Nuns Hospital Unit 43 and the Capital Care Norwood Palliative Care Unit for their kindness and care of our Dad in his final days.
At our father’s request there will be no memorial service and in lieu of flowers you could donate to Youth Empowerment & Support Services (YESS). We’d enjoy receiving any special memories and stories you may have to share about our "absolutely awesome" Dad which you could send to the Foster & McGarvey website.