Family Genealogy: Philip Joseph O'CONNOR

Philip & Anne Deery O'Connor

Born on 6 Aug 1895 , Philip Joseph O’Connor was the 3^rd child of Lawrence J. and Mary A. Fitzpatrick O’Connor. He lived with his family on Apricot Street in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended Gates Lane School (which is the same school his future daughter-in-law, Margaret Shea, would attend many years later). In 1917, Philip graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (which is the same school his son, Philip, would graduate from many years later).

Philip O'Connor (bottom, left) at Gates Lane School, 9th Grade 1908-09

1913 South High School Yearbook

1917 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Yearbook

Philip enlisted in the Armed Forces on 29 May 1918, where he served in France as a member of the 301^st Water Tank Train. This division supported units by providing drinkable water for humans and animals as well as water for washing and bathing. There were mobile water purification units in France in 1917-18 and this unit would have worked with them to transport water wherever it was needed.

“A Water Tank Train or motor supply train consists of 75 men and a Captain and a Lieut. 77 all-together. A train consists of 33 trucks making 33 drivers, each driver is a corporal. 33 assistant drivers who are 1st class privates. 1 truckmaster and one head mechanic who are 1st class Sergeants. 3 assistant truckmasters and 3 assistant mechanics who are all Sergeants. The extra man I think is what is called a signal man. They drove trucks -- “white trucks” -- fitted with enormous water tanks.” From “The Last of the Doughboys” by Richard Rubin (Houghton Mifflin publishers).

As a Sergeant 1^st Class, Philip would have been a truckmaster or a head mechanic for the unit. He was issued an Allied Victory Medal with the inscription: Meuse Argonne-Defensive Sector; Great War for Civilization-March 27, 1920 and was discharged on 9 Jun 1919.

On 23 Aug 1922, Philip married a school teacher from Worcester, Massachusetts, Anne Elizabeth Deery. Anne, the daughter of Edward Deery and Catherine Driscoll Deery, was a 1917 graduate of the Worcester State Normal School. (A “Normal” school was a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose was to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name.) She taught in a one room school house for one year in Rockville, Connecticut and, following that, taught in the Worcester City Schools until her marriage.

Philip Jos. O'Connor & Anne Elizabeth Deery O'Connor

After their marriage, Philip and Anne went to live in Warren, Ohio where he was Superintendent of Water Purification. They had five children

1. Mary Kathryn b: 21 Aug 1923 d: 16 Oct 1986

2. Anne Therese b: 11 Mar 1926

3. Philip James (Bud) b: 21 Jan 1928 d: 12 Jun 1980

4. John Paul b: 29 Aug 1930

5. Margaret Jane b: 9 Jun 1932 d: 7 Nov 2009

1936 - Anne(10), Mary (12), Phil (8), Paul (5), Margaret (3)

Back row (L to R): Anne Therese, Philip James, Margaret Jane,
Front row (L to R): Anne Elizabeth, Phlip Joseph, Mary Katherine, John Paul

Philip suffered a sudden heart attack and died on 14 Feb 1955. He is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Warren, Ohio.

Grandma O'Connor's trip to Rome, Italy in 1955 made such an impression on her that she penned a detailed account of the trip to her classmates at the Worcester State Normal School on the occasion of their 50th reunion. On that trip, she traveled to Rome, Italy with her brothers, Monsignor James Deery and Paul J. Deery, and two of her daughters. They sailed on The Constitution from New York, visited Gibralter, Portugal, Madrid, Spain and Cannes, France. They then traveled on to Rome by way of Monte Carlo and Genoa. Once in Rome, they attended the Ordination of Anne's son, Paul, to the Catholic priesthood at the American College. They were honored to have a private audience with Pope Pius XII. They sailed home on the Andrea Doria from Naples in February, 1956.

I remember that Grandma O'Connor and Aunt Mary had this large statue of a saint sitting on the upstairs landing in their house. It was creepy and I always had to run past it so it wouldn't reach out and "get" me. Grandma O'Connor would also make us peanut butter and butter sandwiches for the drive back home after we came for a visit. I don't think any of us kids liked them. Here's a picture of my dad sitting on a picnic table eating one though. Blech.