Obituary for William Joseph Connor William J. Connor William Joseph Connor of West Palm Beach Florida and 89 years of life, passed away October 16, 2018 at his home after a brief illness. Bill was born in Carbondale Pennsylvania on June 23, 1929 to the late William and Margaret Tomaine Connor. He was pre-deceased by his brothers Thomas and Walter Connor and sister Margaret Connor Mazza all of Carbondale.
A graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School in Carbondale, Bill joined the Navy in 1948 and served for four years including duty stations on the Cruiser USS Fargo and the Destroyer USS Forrest Royal during the Korean War. After discharge Bill took advantage of the GI Bill and attended the University of Scranton earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Accounting. He then embarked on a 35-year career with International Business Machines (IBM).
Innovations developed in his work groups at IBM included the transition from punchcard tabulating to solid state circuitry and magnetic data storage while in Owego and Endicott New York, guidance and other computer systems for NASA during the Apollo and other space programs in Huntsville Alabama and development of the original Personal Computer in Boca Raton Florida. Bill’s proudest achievements though revolved around his family. Bill is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, the former Rosemarie Pettinato with whom he raised a beautiful family of seven children.
They include William Jr (Patricia) of Birmingham Alabama, Timothy (Susan) of Huntsville Alabama, Gerald (Allison) of Savannah Georgia, Daniel (Helen) of Huntsville Alabama, Nancy Jacques (Mark) of Orlando Florida and Patrick (Elisa) and Ann Monaco (Sean) of Wellington Florida. Bill was extremely proud of his children and of their many successes both in their careers and their family lives. Their extended family includes sixteen grand children and four great grandchildren (number five is due any moment now!
). Bill was a life long New York Yankees fan who never ceased to amaze with his ability to point out and name players from Yankee team pictures going back to the Murders Row era all the way through the Mantle era. After that family life took precedence so he didn’t have time to pay as much attention!
He would often tell the story about his long lost baseball card collection that unfortunately was lost during a house cleaning by our beloved Mom Connor (his mother Margaret Tomaine Connor)! Bill was also a long time fan of the Auburn University football team – originally due to the fact that several of his children (and much of his hard earned money) went to Auburn. Five children and six grandchildren (and counting) are Auburn graduates.
Saturdays during the Fall always found Bill cheering on the Tigers while gathered together with family when able or across the miles though our text groups! More recently two of the beloved grand children have found their way to Tallahassee and as ever the supportive Grandpa, he was recently seen in Seminole attire (gasp)! Bill was an active parishioner for the past fourteen years at St Rita Catholic Church in Wellington and prior to that a founding member of the parish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Coral Springs Florida.
He was a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus. It is with great sadness but also with great appreciation that we thank our loving God for the blessing of having Bill in our lives. It was a long life of eighty-nine years – a life very well lived.
Bill was a beloved husband, honored Dad, warm and loving Grandpa and forever a dear friend to those who knew him. We will miss him dearly. The family will hold visitation from 12 noon to 3p.m. on Friday October 19th 2018 at Palms West Funeral Home at 110 Business Park Way, Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411.
(palmswestfuneralhome.com) A Requiem Mass will be held at Saint Rita Catholic Church at 2p.m. on Saturday October 20th 2018 at 13645 Paddock Drive, Wellington FL 33414 Interment will be at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth Florida at a later date. In lieu of flowers the family requests a donation be made in memory of William J Connor to the Family Life Center Building Fund at St. Rita Catholic Church (saintrita.com) or the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org). Upcoming Events Visitation , OCT 19.
12:00 PM – 03:00 PM Palms West Funeral Home and Crematory 110 Business Park Way Royal Palm Beach, FL, US, 33411 mail@palmswestfuneralhome.com www. palmswestfuneralhome.com Wake Service , OCT 19. 02:00 PM Palms West Funeral Home and Crematory 110 Business Park Way Royal Palm Beach, FL, US, 33411 mail@palmswestfuneralhome.com www.
palmswestfuneralhome.com Funeral Mass , OCT 20. 02:00 PM St. Rita Catholic Church 13645 Paddock Drive Wellington, FL, US, 33414 www.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
