Joseph E. O'Connell

Joseph E. O’Connell (“Joe”), of Lake San Marcos, California, passed away at the age of 89 on Sunday, December 5, 2010. Throughout his long life, Joe most valued his family and friends, his church and his country.

Joe O’Connell was preceded in death by his loving wife, Sophia, and their beloved daughter, Kit. He is survived by four children: Joseph, Daniel and Donna, who live in Southern California, and Mary, who lives in Mississippi. Joe is also survived by nine grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and by many other close friends and relatives.

Joe O’Connell was a loving patriarch, generous philanthropist, devoted Irish Catholic, decorated World War II Navy fighter pilot, and graduate of USC. He spent a career as a Certified Public Accountant and financial executive of Van Camp Sea Food Company. He enjoyed a long retirement in Lake San Marcos, where he enjoyed golf with his family and friends.

Joe was born in Los Angeles on May 5, 1921. He parents were Joseph Philip O’Connell and Kathrine (nee Deegan) O’Connell. Joe had two elder sisters, Helen and Marion. He was raised in Los Angeles and spent much of his teenage years enjoying Hermosa Beach. He attended Mt. Carmel High School, where he excelled in basketball and swimming. He then attended Los Angeles City College, where he became an active participant in the Catholic Newman Club and met several friends, including Frank Barclay, Bob McKenzie, Frank Reischl, and Paul Begley, with whom he continued a life-long friendship. And it was at the Newman Club where he met his future wife, Sophia Papp.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Joe earned a commission from the United States Navy, and he became a decorated pilot in the Corsair, an aircraft-carrier-based fighter. He was assigned to flight training and to fighter squadrons aboard several aircraft

carriers, including the newly commissioned Thetis Bay, where he served in the Pacific Fleet until the end of the war.

After the war, Joe completed his education at the University of Southern California, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting. He earned his certificate as a Certified Public Accountant and worked at the accounting firm, Price Waterhouse and Co., for its major motion picture clients.

In 1948, Joe moved his young wife and their two sons into a small house in Westchester, California. A few years later, after the births of his first two daughters, Mary and Kit, the family moved to a larger home in Westchester.

In 1954, Joe joined Van Camp Sea Food Company, the manufacturer of Chicken of the Sea tuna, where he worked for 30 years as a financial executive. Joe travelled the world on behalf of the company to supervise the tuna fleet and canneries.

In 1957, when his company opened new offices there, Joe and his family moved to Long Beach. In 1960, Joe’s youngest daughter, Donna, was born. In 1974, the company moved its offices to San Diego, so Joe and his family moved to a new home on the golf course in Lake San Marcos.

Following his retirement in 1984, Joe retired with Sophia in their home in Lake San Marcos, where he enjoyed volunteering his time at a variety of local and nationwide organizations, including St. Mark’s Catholic Church, the Lake San Marcos Golf Club, the Friends of the San Marcos Library, and the Lake San Marcos Computer Club. He remained active in his profession and served as the San Diego Chapter President of the National Association of Accountants.

Throughout his life and as a devout Irish Catholic, Joe attended Mass every Sunday, and he lived the gospel in his daily life. For example, when the Boy Scout Troop at Visitation Parish

in Westchester needed a Scout Leader, and even though Joe’s two sons were a few years too young to join the Boy Scouts, Joe volunteered to help the parish by leading the Boy Scouts. His family and friends never forgot the lessons that Joe taught those young men about duty to family and friends, to Church and Country.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated for Joe at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 11, 2010, at Mission San Luis Rey Parish Chapel, which is located at 4050 Mission Avenue, Oceanside, California 92057. The funeral Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Mike Wakefield, the Pastor at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Sherman Oaks, who counseled Joe during his final months. Following the Mass, Joe will be laid to rest next to his loving wife, Sophia, and their beloved daughter, Kit, at Eternal Hills Cemetery, which is three miles from the Mission and is located at 1999 El Camino Real, Oceanside, California 92054. After the ceremony, the family will celebrate Joe’s life in true Irish fashion at the El Camino Country Club, which is one mile from the cemetery and is located at 3202 Vista Way, Oceanside, California 92056.