John A. O'neill Jr.

Of Bourne, at home on August 21st, survived by his devoted wife Patricia L (Allen) of 56 years

and his loving children, Peri-Ann Reilly and her husband Joseph of Scituate, Eugene and his wife Frances

D of Braintree, John A III of Braintree and Stephen A of Bourne. Son of the late John A and Margaret

(Carroll) O'Neill of Boston and brother of the late Evelyn R O'Neill of Hyannis. Loving grandfather of

Patrick and Daniel Reilly of Scituate and Kathleen F and Thomas D O'Neill of Braintree. John was born in

Boston on March 23, 1926. He was a graduate of St Francis Xavier and Charlestown High School, and was

a member of the school football, baseball, hockey and track teams, he also played baseball for the

Healey Club as a pitcher before enlisting in the Navy in October, 1943. He was a WW II combat veteran,

serving aboard the light cruiser Astoria and was in Tokyo Bay at the time Japan surrendered to America.

After the war John went to work for NE Telephone and continued his military service with the Naval

Reserves. He continued playing baseball and pitched batting practice and had a tryout with the Red Sox

at Fenway Park. After marriage, John and Patricia settled in Braintree. John started with the phone

company as a lineman and worked most of his career as an engineer designing phone networks. He

headed the local chapter of Telecom Pioneers Club for two years. John was an avid outdoorsman

who enjoyed skiing, hunting, fishing and most of all, boating. He was an active member of the Braintree

Yacht Club, serving as Commodore in 1974. He also served as president of Quincy Bay Race Week and

flotilla commander of the local coast guard auxiliary. He was a licensed boat captain and, after retiring

from the phone company at age 55, began his second career, first as a launch operator with the National

Park Service in Lowell on the Merrimac River and later as a patrol boat operator with the Army Corp of

Engineers on the Cape Cod Canal. He assisted with several life saving missions. In 1984 John was

presented the Theodore N Vail Award by the Phone Company in recognition of his saving a mother and

daughter who were drowning. In their retirement years, John and Patricia enjoyed winters in St

Petersburgh, Florida and summers in Bourne. They traveled extensively in their retirement including

trips to the Grand Canyon, Ireland, Hawaii and Alaska. Funeral from the Nickerson-Bourne Funeral

Home, 40 McArthur Boulevard, Bourne on Thursday at 11:00 AM. Internment in Massachusetts

National Cemetery, Bourne at 1:00 PM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend visiting

hours on Wednesday, from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations in John's memory may be

made to the Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod, 765 Attucks Lane, Hyannis MA 02601.