Patricia O'Neill

Patricia O’Neill of Charlotte, NC, passed away peacefully, surrounded by members of her loving family, on the morning of December 13, 2022. She fought a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease and its complications.

Born on March 6, 1941 in Charlotte, NC, Pat was the daughter of the late Joseph Gerard O’Neill, Sr. and the late Martha Steele O’Neill Johnson.

Pat spent all of her growing up years in Charlotte and graduated from Charlotte Catholic High School. She graduated from Belmont Abbey College, Belmont, NC, with a degree in Business Administration. She also took graduate courses in Finance at George Washington University, Washington, DC. Pat had additional training through IBM PC Classes at Queens College, Charlotte, NC.

While spending ten years as a nun with the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont, Pat got into the hospital business at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Asheville, NC. While there, she also discovered her love for the mountains. After leaving the convent, she headed to the Washington, DC area, working at Sibley Memorial Hospital and Montgomery General Hospital.

In 1978, Pat moved back to Charlotte, bought a house, and started a career with Siemens Medical Solutions-Health Services and was with them when they purchased Shared Medical Systems (SMS). She worked with them installing hospital computer systems until 2002.

In 1978, when uptown Charlotte had very little nightlife in the evenings after 6:00, Pat purchased a building at 118 W. 5th Street and spent a year restoring it. In August 1979, she and her brother Michael O’Neill and sister Booty Moran opened O’Neill’s Restaurant. Pat was proud to say that “O’Neill’s was a lively place to be in the evening, with live entertainment on weekends.” St. Patrick’s Day for the next five years was an event to behold in uptown Charlotte. The crowds were so large the city gave Pat a permit to close the street and have live music on a flat bed truck in the street to entertain the crowds that couldn’t get inside O’Neill’s. She found after five years, though, that traveling full-time with SMS and then spending weekends at the restaurant was taking its toll and it was time to sell the business.

That didn’t mean that Pat slowed down. Pat added to her career activities that of an excellent Massage Therapist, Wood Worker, and Artist. She never tired of continuing her education for new adventures that she loved doing. She once wrote: “My garage is now filled with wood-working tools and machines. I’ve made furniture and cabinets, but took a leave from this while in massage school. My goal is to do this and massage in my retirement. Retirement is a misnomer – I’ll have more projects than I can stand.”

Pat never lost her love for her family and her many endearing, wonderful, and deeply loved dogs throughout her life. She once summed up her life saying “Life is Good!! I’ve been blessed and am very grateful!!”

Pat is survived by her siblings Joseph G. O’Neill, Jr. (Jan), Martha O. Ausman, Mary “Booty” Moran (Bob), and Michael J. O’Neill, her step-brother John B. “Jay” Johnson (Louise), all of Charlotte, as well as her nieces and nephews: Rob O’Neill, Kecia Treveiler, Tara O’Neill, John Ausman, Joe Ausman, Jim Ausman, Jr., Tom Ausman, Matt Ausman, Christy Chandler, and Graham Chandler. Pat is preceded in death by her parents and her step-father, J. Bracken Johnson, her sister, Regina O. Parsons, brother-in-law, Jim Ausman, and nephew, Billy Ausman.

A Celebration of Life for Pat will be held on Saturday, January 14th, at 1:00pm, at McEwen Funeral Service at Sharon Memorial Park, 5716 Monroe Road, Charlotte, NC 28212.

Pat had a love for many charities. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the charity of your choice.