December 17, 1924 - December 29, 2017
John Joseph O’Connor passed away peacefully December 29, 2017. He was born December 17, 1924 in Lakeview, Oregon, the seventh and youngest child of Nora Barry and John Lenihan O’Connor.
John graduated from Lakeview High School in 1943. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in the Philippines. Upon completion of his military service, he attended Southern Oregon College in Ashland, and on February 13, 1947 he married Betty Pardue, also a native of Lakeview, who he had known all of his life. They later moved to Corvallis, where he received his degree in Forestry. John’s career in forestry was spent mainly in the Medford area, and he was last employed by Plumley, Inc.
John and Betty raised their three children, Connie, Carole, and John in the Medford area. After retirement, they spent years traveling throughout the southern United States, and then returned to the Rogue Valley where they lived in Shady Cove. In 2015, they moved to Twin Creeks Retirement Community in Central Point.
John is survived by his wife of 70 years, Betty; children, Connie, Carole, and John; four grandchildren, Becky, John, Matthew, and Shannon; and two step-grandchildren, Shaun and Shane; 13 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by his parents and all six of his siblings, Helen Murphy, Julia Murphy, Mae Daley, Philip Daley, Theresa Dollarhide, and Margaret Loffer Welk.
Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday January 4, 2018 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Shady Cove with reception afterward. Burial will take place at 2 p.m. at Eagle Point National Cemetery in Eagle Point, Ore.