Mary Viola O'Connor

Mary Viola O'Connor (Vi), age 93, of Ankeny, Iowa passed away on Sunday, June 23, 2013 at the Bright Kavanagh Hospice House in Des Moines, Iowa. A Private family memorial will be held at Calvary Cemetery in Rochester, MN.

Viola was born on May 30, 1920 to William and Ellen (Healy) Daly. Viola was born at home as was the custom at that time at 10 Welling Street located in Astoria Long Island the westernmost neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Viola was the first in her family to finish high school and graduated from Julia Richmond High School in 1939.

Viola was united in marriage to Francis Arthur O'Connor on September 26, 1942. This couple was blessed with five children, Michael, John, Donald, James and Eileen.

Viola's favorite things to do were seeing her grandchildren, creating greeting cards for her family and friends, watching Jeopardy, reading novels, playing bingo, playing cards and having an occasional glass of red wine.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, Michael O'Connor (Ann) of Hebron, Indiana, John O'Connor (Debbie) of Plymouth, Minnesota, Donald O'Connor (Terry) of Maple Lake, Minnesota, James O'Connor (Kim) of Rochester, Minnesota and Eileen Nauman (Derek) of Ankeny, Iowa; her grandchildren, Michelle, Natalie, Mike (Michael/Ann), Colin, Garret (John/Debbie), Leesa, Jinae, Ryan (Donald/Terry), Amanda, Ashley, Angela (James/Kim) and Dawn, Amanda (Eileen/Derek); her great grandchildren, Allison, Nathan, Ava, Madison, Tucker, Tristian, Lucas, Mariah, Bradley, Logan, Dillon, Tyler, Brycen; extended family and many friends.

Viola was preceded in death by her husband, Francis Arthur O'Connor, her parents, William Nicolas and Ellen Veronica (Healy) Daly and her sister Florence Daly.