OBITUARY NOTICE: Father Mark O’Connor, SA, Franciscan Friar of the Atonement
(1930 – 2017)
(July 14, 2017—Graymoor, Garrison, NY) Father Mark O’Connor, SA, (nee Lawrence) a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, entered eternal life on Friday, July 14, 2017. A wake service is planned at Graymoor on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at 7 p.m., and a Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 10 a.m. Both services will take place at the St. Paul’s Friary Chapel at Graymoor. Interment in the Friars’ cemetery will immediately follow.
Fr. O’Connor was born on July 13, 1930 in Boston, MA and raised in Roslindale, MA, where he attended Roslindale High School. He served in the U.S. Navy before entering the Community of the Friars of the Atonement in 1956. Fr. Mark professed his First Vows in 1959 and made his Final Vows in 1964. In preparation for Ordination, he received a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University, Bronx, NY in 1978 and a Master of Divinity Degree from Catholic University, Washington, DC in 1984. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James P. Mahoney at Graymoor in 1984.
Fr. O’Connor worked at the Graymoor Press in Peekskill for many years before becoming the business manager of The Lamp magazine and Ecumenical Trends. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Francis De Sales Parish, Lumberton, NC from 1979 – 1981. He was appointed Ecumenical Secretary for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and served in that position from 1984 – 1988. He served in Pastoral Ministry at Chapel of Our Savior, Brockton, MA from 1988 – 1994 before returning to Graymoor where he was assigned to Retreat Center Ministry at the Spiritual Life Center.
Fr. O’Connor was the son of the late John W. and Geneva McDevitt O’Connor, both of Massachusetts. He had two brothers and five sisters. He is survived by his sister Dorothy Dyer of Massachusetts and many beloved nieces and nephews. Fr. O’Connor retired from active ministry in 2013. He was a resident of the Cabrini of Westchester Nursing Home in Dobbs Ferry, NY at the time of passing.