Eileen P. O'Connor

Eileen P. O'Connor died on November 4, 2016, in Greenwich, CT, from complications related to Parkinson’s disease, which she battled bravely for years. A resident of Greenwich for most of her life, Eileen grew up in town, and she and her husband Paul raised their family of four children here. Eileen was a successful realtor with Smith, Hecker & Collins and later Coldwell Banker, and was active in numerous town activities, including a long dedication to the Garden Club.

Eileen was born in Stamford, CT, on February 17, 1938, to James and Margaret O'Toole, both of whom had emigrated from Ireland in the 1920's. Eileen was the oldest of four children, and came from a large, close-knit family with many of her aunts and uncles also emigrating from Ireland. She attended St. Catherine's elementary school and Our Lady Of Good Counsel high school in White Plains, NY, where she excelled academically and met friends with whom she remained close all her life. After graduating high school in 1955, Eileen attended Trinity College in Washington, DC, the first in her family to attend college.

Eileen met her husband Paul at a wedding reception in Greenwich, and they were married a year later in a ceremony at St. Mary Church, Greenwich, on June 18, 1960. They happily celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary just a few months before Paul's passing in September 2015.

After marrying, Eileen and Paul settled in Westchester County, living for several years in Bronxville, NY. They relocated to Greenwich in 1973 to their home on Stanwich Road where they lived for the next three decades. With Eileen's constant support, her husband Paul founded a law firm in town after practicing for many years in New York City. Eileen and Paul were long time parishioners at St. Agnes Church and members of The Milbrook Club. They were reliable regulars at their children's varied sporting and other events around town, rooting them on. They also loved to travel together, including a number of trips to Ireland.

Eileen was an avid gardener, a master of all forms of sewing and needlework, and had a wealth of close friends. Most importantly and joyously for her, she was grandmother to twelve grandchildren -- six boys and six girls -- who she treasured and who will miss her greatly

Eileen is survived by her son Paul M. ("Tad") O'Connor III, wife Kimberly, and their children Michael, Cay, and Caroline, of New York, NY; her daughter Anne O'Connor Standish, husband Peter, and their children Peter, Caitlin, and Thomas, of Concord, MA; her son Peter J. O'Connor, wife Ann, and their children Claire, Peter and Jack, of Greenwich, CT; and her son Thomas L. O'Connor, wife Sarah, and their children Thomas, Grace and Mary Katherine, of Riverside, CT. She also leaves behind her sister Anne Finn of Marshfield, MA, her brother James O’Toole of Darien, CT, her sister Meg Gruppo of Fairfield, CT, and their families, as well as numerous in-laws, cousins, nieces and nephews.

There will be a wake at Leo P. Gallagher Funeral Home in Greenwich on Wednesday, November 9, 2016, from 2:30 to 4:00 pm and from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. The funeral will be held at St. Michael's Church in Greenwich at 11:00 am on Thursday, November 10, 2016. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Eileen's name to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.