GLENS FALLS--Michael Joseph O'Connor, 78, passed away on Thursday, March 23rd after what he considered a full life and an untold blessing of being married to the best girl in the world, and having three phenomenal children, along with their spouses and his grandchildren.

Born in Glens Falls on July 23rd, 1938, he was the son of Catherine Mary (Casey) O'Connor of Ballynahulla, Ballydesmond, County Cork, Ireland and Maurice D. O'Connor, of Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland.

Mike grew up in his beloved Glens Falls, and graduated from Saint Mary's Academy in 1956.   All through school, and even now by several of his S.M.A. classmates, he was known as "Oker."   To this day, he always said he was one of the oddballs who loved High School.   Active in many social functions, grade school plays, High School dances and for a time he wrote a humor column for the school newspaper, aptly titled, "Oker the Joker."   He loved cars and when the Original Supermarket on Warren St., closed, after working there in his junior year, he had an opportunity to go to work for a good friend, Cliff St. Onge, who ran the Mobil gas station on the corner of Lawrence and Ridge Sts., a block from his house on Ridge St.   He always felt any young fellow who had an interest in cars, should have an opportunity to work at the 'corner gas station.'

Mike volunteered for the draft in November 1958 and did his basic training at Ft. Dix, NJ.   He later attended the U.S. Army Southern Signal School at Ft. Gordon, GA. While there he was trained to be a crypto operator and was then assigned to VII Corps Headquarters crypto communications at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany.   Mike loved the Army and he loved Germany and the opportunity that the Army gave him by traveling to Europe so that he could see some of the European countryside, visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France, and also visit many of his relatives in Ireland, a trip he has held close to his heart for all of his life.   While back home in the Army reserves, Mike attended the U.S. Army N.C.O. academy at Ft. Dix, NJ, and upon graduation was given the N.C.O. rank of Corporal from Sp/4.   He was then recommended for the rank of Sergeant, but left the reserves due to work commitments, prior to sewing on his sergeant stripes.   One unusual feat that seldom if ever occurs in the military was that on the night he landed at Ft. Dix in the reception depot, he met a fellow Irishman from Boston, Ed McElroy, and as fate would have it, they were together throughout their entire two years of service, both being separated from active duty on the same day, standing next to each other, at Ft. Hamilton, NY, after returning from Germany on the US Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner troop transport.

After his return from service, Mike went back to work at the H. & F. Binch Textile mill on Warren St, later known as Native Textiles.   From there he went to work for the Capital Finance Corp. at 14 Warren St. in Glens Falls in June 1964.   He was with Capital for over thirteen years, managing offices in Skaneateles, NY and Corning, NY, and also doing work as a manager at large for the company during some summers.   His office in Corning had 13 employees, a considerably large workforce, considering the times when small loan companies had loan limits of only twenty-five hundred dollars, which had risen to that amount from days when he first started, when the limit was eight hundred dollars.   The Corning office for Capital was the largest, dollar wise, in the state.

Mike was always willing to take the extra step of getting involved in groups and projects which he felt would benefit mankind.   While living in Auburn, he was a member of the Skaneateles Toastmasters Club, an organization he thoroughly enjoyed, and also became a member of the Auburn Jaycees.   It was while he was doing fundraising work for the Jaycees that he was invited to travel with three other notable Jaycees to make a presentation to then Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in Rochester.   After listening to his radio and TV programs when he was known as Msgr. Sheen, and then having a photo and a signed copy of the Bishop's book, 'Life is Worth Living' was truly an honor which Mike has always remembered.

Mike returned to Glens Falls from Corning to work for Glens Falls National Bank in the credit card department as a collector and then as Assistant Mgr. and then went to work in an entirely new field, auto sales, for Whiteman Chevrolet In Glens Falls. From there he went to work for Queensbury Motors returning to Whiteman after a little over three years and then on to retirement.

It was during this time that the long time Warren County supervisor of the 4th Ward in the city of Glens Falls, Jim Malone, approached Mike and told him that he would be stepping down as our ward supervisor at the end of his term and would Mike be interested.   Sitting in Mike's living room, Mike chuckled and said he didn't think so as he was not a politician.   At that point, Jim made a comment that Mike said he never forgot.   Jim told Mike that if he wanted a politician, he'd go downtown and find one, they were a dime a dozen and all over the place.   Jim said he wanted a person who could think on their feet, use reasoned judgment and be able to coexist in a bi-partisan world. The rest of that story is pretty much self evident to those who know Mike. He went on to win eleven elections in a row, running on, at one time or another, the Democrat, Conservative and Independence lines, though always staying true to his Democrat leanings.   Mike served on just about every committee at the Warren County Board and was chair or vice chair of several of them.   Also, the Post Star, in an article concerning the Warren County Board, referred to Mike as, "Often, the voice of reason at the county level."   Mike was also chair of the county mental health committee for many years, and was also a long time member of the Combined Services Board of Warren and Washington counties mental health programs.   Mike also has been a 20 plus year member of the Warren Hamilton Counties, Community Action Agency Board of Directors, serving as President for nearly 20 years, a position he held until his death.   Mike used to chuckle in casual conversations with someone who would say, 'I looked all over for a Notary Public last week' - - and Mike would say, I'm a Notary, and have been for over 40 years.   He always thought it was odd that the things we don't know about our friends could fill volumes.

On October 14, 1961, in Saint Mary's Church in Glens Falls, Mike married the girl who waited for him while he went to Germany, his late wife, the former Carol Ann Braydon, of Big Cross St. in Glens Falls. They have three children, twin girls, Catherine Mary Billus and her husband Greg, of Queensbury, Kerry Ann Corsones of Glens Falls and Timothy Michael O'Connor and his wife Erin, of Glens Falls: three grandchildren, Erin M. Corsones, Conor B. Corsones and Spencer J. Williams all of Glens Falls.   He is also survived by a sister, Patricia O'C. Whalen of NYC.   Also, sisters in law, Cecelia K. O'Connor, Julia B. Stewart, Mary E. Allen and Susan K. Salarullo and her husband Patrick and Helen R. Braydon and a brother in law, Andrew Braydon

In addition to his parents and his mother and father in law, Mary F. Braydon and Benjamin C. Braydon, he was preceded in death by his loving wife, Carol, who passed away on January 10th, 2015 after over 53 years of marriage, a death he never got over, his 'second mother', a woman who was responsible for saving the life of his mother when she was dying of pernicious anemia back in 1940, a disease quite fatal back then, Miss Josephine C. Batcheller, formerly of 148 Ridge St. in Glens Falls, where Mike and his mother and father lived from grade school until Mike went in the Army in 1958.   He was also predeceased by his brother, Maurice J. O'Connor; a sister, Maureen O'C. Barker, two brothers in law, John H. Braydon and Robert M. Allen, whom Mike always considered to be the younger brother he never had as his brother "Okie" was eleven years his senior.

Along with Mike's love of family, God and country, he held a special love for the Knights of Columbus.   Having held many offices in the Glens Falls K. of C. Council, # 194, Mike was a Life Member, a Past Grand Knight, and a Former District Deputy and had been the Council Treasurer for over 20 years.   He was also a Life Member of the Msgr. Daniel F. Curtin Assembly, Fourth Degree, having held many offices in that organization also, along with being a Past Faithful Navigator.   Mike never took a lot of credit for what he did for the K. of C. and he always said that if he didn't do it, someone else would, attempting to minimize his value to the organization, but it was a love of what the K. of C. stood for, that kept him active and dedicated for so many years.

Upon returning to Glens Falls, the family lived so close to St. Alphonsus Church, that they made the decision to join that parish.   Both Carol and Mike were extremely active members of St. Alphonsus, with Carol being the Director of Religious Education for many years, and Mike being a member of the parish council for many years, being the President for six of them.   Mike was a parish trustee for several years, a lector, a Eucharistic minister, and chaired or co-chaired many of the winter dances held by the parish.   He also was, for many years, the auctioneer at the annual Parish Bazaar. Mike was also a member of the St. Alphonsus school board and was on the board when the school finalized the merger with St. Mary's Academy.   Like with his parish and the K. of C., Mike was a firm believer in the fact that if you are going to join something, if you are not involved, then you didn't join anything.

Mike loved his NY sports teams, the Yankees, Knicks and above all, his beloved football Giants.   Mike always said if you cut anyone in his family, you'd see they all bled 'Giant Blue.'   He was fortunate to have seen the very last game the Giants ever played in Yankee stadium and he was in the old Giant Stadium for the "Joe Pisarcik Fumble" which true Giant fans will always remember.

Mike was also a friend of Bill W. and Dr. Bob, a friendship he found when he was 55 years old and kept until his death.   He always wished he had formed that friendship earlier in life, but knew in his heart that even finding it at 55, it allowed him to live for many years that perhaps would not have been available to him, had he not formed that friendship at all.   Mike loved to play pool, a game he discovered way back in grade school at Gene's Pool Hall, on the corner of Elm and Park Streets.   He never forgot the time his Mom found out he was going to a pool room and she went after him.   He looked up to see her come down towards where he was playing, took one look at her and ran out the back door.   He didn't go back for quite a while, but never lost his love of the game, even to winning the K. of C. pool league championship, by besting his good pal, Bob McDermott in the final round, several years ago.   Like his father before him, Mike loved to play cards.   We know he will miss his Thursday night K. of C. poker playing pals, and we presume they also will miss him.

Mike was a member of St. Michael the Archangel Church in South Glens Falls. Both he and Carol became members of the parish when she was appointed as the Director of Religious Education, several years ago.   As you can tell from this obituary, faith was very important to both Carol and Mike and Mike had a great devotion to both the Rosary and the Miraculous Medal Novena and he attended daily Mass for several years until his illness prevented him from doing so.

Friends may call between the hours of 4:00 P.M and 7:00 P.M on Tuesday, March 28th at Baker Funeral Home at 11 Lafayette Street in Queensbury. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Michael the Archangel Church at 80 Saratoga Avenue, in South Glens Falls on Wednesday, March 29th at 10:00 A.M.                        A bereavement gathering will immediately follow the Mass at the parish hall.   All are invited to attend in an effort to share some laughs and old memories, because that's what Mike would have wanted. Burial will take place at St. Mary's Cemetery on Main Street in South Glens Falls on a future date yet to be determined.

Please, no flowers.   If you'd care to make a remembrance in honor of Mike's life, please make a donation to the Warren-Hamilton Counties Community Action Agency. Checks can be mailed to PO Box 968, Glens Falls, NY 12801.

Condolences may be sent directly to the funeral home, or through www.bakerfuneralhome.com.