John William O’Neill, Jr . passed away on Thursday, June 13th at the age of 72.
A celebration of life for John will be held 4:00 pm on Saturday, June 22, 2024 at Dunbar Funeral Home Devine Street Chapel, 3926 Devine Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29205 with a reception to follow.
John was born on April 2, 1952 in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from Bishop England High School and then was appointed to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. After two years at the Naval Academy, he transferred to the University of South Carolina, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration. John went on to also earn a Master of Business Administration from Winthrop University.
John was an accomplished sales leader. Over the course of his long career in telecommunication, he worked for Southern Bell, BellSouth, and finally retiring from Plantronics, Inc. as the Senior Director of Global Accounts Sales in 2017 after 20 years.
Over the course of John’s life, he had many passions- basketball, golf, hiking, poker, his Koi ponds, Civil War and military history, Gamecock sports, GeezerFest, chess, painting and most recently, fishing. Additionally, he was actively involved in several civic and social organizations- the Knights of Columbus, the Charleston Hibernian Society, Wounded Warriors and Friends of the Harbison State Forest to name a few.
Even with all of this, his biggest passion was his family. John loved his wife and children immensely and was an incredibly proud husband, father, father in-law and grandfather. He had many nicknames- Johnny, Jupiter, Jupe, Junior, O’Near, Daddy and probably his favorite- Poppy. His three grandchildren were truly the center of his world.
He is preceded in death by his parents, John William, Sr. and Elizabeth O’Neill. He is survived by his loving wife of 46 years, Ann; two children, Chris (Jenny) and Katie (Clay); three grandchildren, Mackinley, Charlotte and William, five siblings, Maggie (Al) Watts, Patty (Jim) Detreville, Dennis (Lisa) O’Neill, Cele Eck and Theresa (Mark) Turnbull, as well as many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Friends of Harbison State Forest: www.friendsofhsf.org.
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