John O'Connor Obituary
John Patrick "Jack" O'Connor, 94, of Freeport, died Saturday, February 17, 2024 at Liberty Village Retirement Community.
Funeral Mass will be 10 A.M. Saturday Feb. 24, 2024 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church with the Rev. Peter Snieg officiating and concelebrated by the Rev. Dan O'Connor. A visitation will be from 9 A.M. until the time of service at church. There will also be a visitation from 4:00-8:00 P.M. Friday Feb. 23, 2024 at Burke-Tubbs Funeral Home. A rosary service will start at 3:30 P.M. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery in Freeport.
Jack was born on Dec. 2, 1929 in Freeport's old Third Ward to James and Margaret (Luecke) O'Connor. He graduated from Aquin Central Catholic High School and was a veteran of the Korean War. He married Shirley J. Bergmann O'Connor on Jan. 2, 1954 in Freeport and they had five children.
Born just weeks after Wall Street's Black Friday, his earliest days were framed by the deprivation of the Great Depression while World War II served as the backdrop for his formative years. For decades afterward, Jack spoke not of the hardships, but of the spirit of selflessness, of neighbors helping neighbors, and they were lessons he etched on his memory and heart; they solidified as core values by which he would live.
Jack graduated in 1947 from Aquin, where he lettered in football and basketball. Taylor Park baseball leagues dominated summers. He attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where he also played football, and later, DePaul University.
In 1951, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy for four years, assigned to the U.S.S. Pickaway, an amphibious attack transport. He served two tours during the Korean War, shuttling troops from Japan to combat zones in Korea and back again.
While on leave in Freeport between tours, Jack met Shirley Bergmann, a young news reporter. They saw each other daily for nearly a month and after Jack returned to the Navy, he wrote her every day for more than a year until they became engaged upon his return stateside.
Jack embarked on several careers during his lifetime, but the ones that meant the most to him were working as sports editor and in other posts for the Freeport Journal-Standard in the 1960s and '70s; as a salesman for Freeport-based Intercity Box and Plastic Co.; and as a jewelry repair specialist for his cousin Charles M. Luecke at the downtown Freeport landmark, Luecke Jewelers.
A sentimental romantic toward his wife of more than 69 years, Jack was also a jokester, pranking friends and family alike. He engendered the worship of young children, for whom he reserved the greatest kindnesses. When life turned sour, he focused on those less fortunate.
To that end, his energy was boundless. He was a volunteer for FHN hospice and Presence Provena, where he started a men's discussion group and chaperoned the adult daycare bus. He was a past president of the Aquin Booster Club and regularly kept watch with the Blessed Sacrament at St. Thomas, where for decades he was also a lector.
He was previously a member of the Jaycees, the Germania Club and the American Legion and was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 998.
Jack is survived by his children Susan E. (Kevin) Meegan of Palos Heights; the Rev. Daniel P. O'Connor of Marksville, Louisiana; Theresa L. O'Connor of Madison, Wisconsin and John M. O'Connor of Springfield; grandson Timothy S. (Janet) Meegan of Mankato, Minnesota, and their sons Liam and Seamus; and grandson James C. (Sarah) Meegan of Morton Grove and their daughters Brigid and Riley; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife; a son, Timothy John; his parents, his sisters (and brothers-in-law), Patricia (Lester) Cook; Roberta (Jess) Cremer; Geraldine (Charles) Morell and Margaret (Martin) Krogull and his brother (and sister-in-law) James (Joannes) O'Connor; two nieces and a nephew.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to Aquin Catholic Schools, Freeport, or to the family for Masses to be said.
