Francis O'Connor

Francis Xavier (Frank) O’Connor was born on September 11, 1954 at Brooklyn Doctors Hospital, the 4th of J. Kenneth and Dorothea Marie O’Connor’s 17 children. Frank is predeceased by his father, his older brother Christopher, infant Peter, infant Theresa, and infant John. Frank is survived by his mother and his many siblings – Christopher’s wife Ellen, Paul O’Connor (and his wife Marie), Virginia Walonoski (and her husband Joseph), Patrick O’Connor (and his wife Gina), Betsy O’Connor, Stephen O’Connor (and his wife Trina), Andrew O’Connor (and his wife Carol), Michael O’Connor, Catherine O’Connor (and her husband Andres Garcia), Margaret McCabe, Ann Louise Peyton (and her husband Kevin), Bernadette O’Connor (and her husband Michael Berwind), and Joan Gregory (and her husband Robert). In addition, Frank is survived by 22 nephews and nieces and 12 grandnephews and grandnieces.

Frank survived autism before anyone knew what it was. He also had intellectual disabilities stemming from being born with hydrocephalus. Because of these conditions, as he was growing up, he was moved from school to school because there were no programs in those schools that could serve his unique needs.

For the first 8 years of his life, Frank was a parishioner at St. Vincent Ferrer Church on Glenwood Road in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. At age 8, the family moved to the Ditmas Park section of Flatbush, and Frank became a parishioner at Holy Innocents Church on Beverley Road.

Throughout his life in Brooklyn, Frank worked a variety of jobs. For one of his first jobs, he traveled by himself on the subway to lower Manhattan and back each day. But, the job that had the most permanence was that of selling newspapers on Sunday mornings in front of the candy store on Cortelyou Road. Some of the local residents called him “The Mayor”.

In 1993, Frank’s family moved to the North End of Eastchester, New York, in Westchester County (though with a Scarsdale mailing address). Frank became a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Carman Road in Scarsdale. Throughout the years, Frank attended the Saturday evening 5:30 PM Mass, where he regularly assumed responsibilities like delivering the weekly bulletins to the back of the church, lighting candles, bringing the offertory gifts to the back of the church, extinguishing candles at the end of Mass, and locking up the church. He signed himself up for several hours of Eucharistic Adoration each week, a practice which he fulfilled faithfully until COVID caused the 24-hour adoration to be terminated.

Frank’s work ethic was remarkable during these years in Scarsdale. He worked in a local supermarket and was proud of the pension he received many years later. And for many years, he got up early in the morning to take care of the newspapers at the Brook Street Deli, then had breakfast, then traveled by bus to Mechtronics’ office next to the Westchester County Airport, where he performed basic maintenance services. When Mechtronics moved its offices to Beacon, New York, Frank traveled by ParaTransit to the Tarrytown train station, rode the Hudson

line train to Beacon, where another ParaTransit van brought him to the company’s offices. Frank always enjoyed bringing home the Thanksgiving turkey distributed to all employees. Frank also had a routine of putting together the Sunday newspapers at the Eastchester CVS.

Frank had a sense of adventure, traveling by plane with his parents, Joe and Virginia to Nantucket and Detroit. He enjoyed traveling to family events – baptisms, 1st Communions, Confirmations, graduations, weddings and funerals – both locally and around the country.

His later years were probably his happiest. He will be remembered for his many memorable mannerisms – his nicknames for his siblings, his use of acronyms, his phone call reminders to change the clocks twice a year, and his regular weather reports. After his father’s death, he became very attentive to Mom’s needs, reminding her to take her medications, picking up needed items at the grocery store, locking up the house, taking out the garbage.

As his health worsened in his final years, with several hospitalizations and various impairments, he kept to the routines he loved most – activities, weekly trips to Chase bank, listening to the Yankee games, watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, saying the Rosary each night with Mom.

Throughout his life, Frank was blessed to have the love and care of his parents and his siblings.

Frank’s life is a testament to his perseverance and resilience. He never thought he was different from anyone else and always believed he could do what others could do. He was a very special person who will be dearly missed.

A visitation for Francis will be held Friday, October 20, 2023 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Edwin L. Bennett Funeral Homes, 824 Scarsdale Ave, Scarsdale, NY 10583. A mass of christian burial will occur Saturday, October 21, 2023 from 9:45 AM to 10:30 AM at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church-Scarsdale, 8 Carman Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583. A burial will occur Saturday, October 21, 2023 from 11:15 AM to 11:30 AM at St. John Cemetery, 80-01 Metropolitan Avenue, Middle Village, NY 11379.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Francis' memory may be made to Immaculate Heart of Mary, https://ihm-parish.org/contribute or to a charity of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ELBennettFuneralHomes.com for the O'Connor family.