James O'Connor Obituary

Our Dad, James Albert O'Connor, decided it was his time. At 95 years of age while briefly hospitalized he learned that he was facing a new and serious health issue. He asked us to support his decision. We did. His passing was as painless as it was peaceful. It was his opportunity to join his dearest love and his best decision, his wife, and our mother Alice Anna (Millikin) O'Connor. She had preceded him in death in May 2022. His family gathered round him, and he was never alone.



Jim's legacy to this world includes many family members and friends who will remember him as an outstanding person, father, spouse, and friend. He held his family as his highest priority, he held a work ethic that would never quit, and he had a big heart. He was a storyteller who freely shared the many accounts of his experiences and adventures of growing up in Waynoka and Enid Oklahoma, his military service in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, his years as a student at Oklahoma State University, and his life-long fascination with cars. He always said his first two words were "car" and "key"! He loved antique cars and held on to the 1974 Chevrolet Caprice Classic convertible that he purchased new but transformed into a vintage automobile over the 50 years of his tender loving care. That automobile remains in the family today, passed down to his grandchild for safe keeping. Jim's fascination with cars took Jim from working for GMAC in Oklahoma to becoming a car dealer in Clovis, NM, then Lubbock, TX, and finally in Walters, OK. Starting in 1984, Jim began a successful second career selling real estate.



In 1990, when our mother Alice finally said, "Enough with all the kids and grandkids moving to the Pacific Northwest! We are going too!" Dad, Mom, and our sister Jennifer moved from his beloved Oklahoma to Helena, MT. Mom & Dad lived there for 27 years with one of their sons and grandchildren. Finally retiring from work in his early 80's, Jim and Alice eventually moved from MT to Seattle, WA in April 2018 to be near two of their other kids and their families.



Both Jim and Alice loved to travel! In 2019 at the age of ninety, they took a trip to Germany to visit one of their grandsons and, from there visited Ireland, the land of their ancestors.



Jim was preceded in death by his wife Alice and by his grandsons Elliott and Emory. He is survived by his children James Michael, Richard Kevin, Gary Patrick, and Jennifer Ann (Olsen), his grandchildren Keene, Marissa, Kellum, Shaye, Anna, Kaitlin, Hayes, and Connor, and twelve great-grandchildren.



Jim's family expresses their deepest gratitude to the medical communities of both Helena and Seattle, and particularly to the Veterans Administration for its dedication in helping veterans like Jim in their times of need.



Dad, we are grateful for everything you did for us and for everything you taught us. Your lessons of duty, honor, loyalty, generosity, and love set examples for all of us to live up to and pass down through your lineage. Thank you and we love you Dad! Bon voyage!