Jack Frank O'Connell

Jack was born in Helena, MT to Frank and Anne (McMahon) O’Connell, and came to the Portland area as a little boy. He was a 1940 graduate of Franklin High School. After high school he worked at various jobs before joining the US Navy and serving honorably during World War II. He met Ruth Holmes at the Oregon Game Commission (now Fish and Wildlife), and they were married in 1948 in Portland. Mr. O’Connell worked for 35 years in Licensing at Oregon Fish and Wildlife, retiring in 1983.

When he was younger, Jack enjoyed fly fishing. Later in life he liked working out crossword and jumble puzzles, watching baseball games on television, and spending time with family at their beach house in Lincoln City.

Jack was preceded in death by his sister June Alford, and by wife Ruth in 2005 after 57 years of marriage. He will be missed by four children, Tim O’Connell and wife Sianne of Tigard, Georgia Shirley and husband Jerry of Molalla,

Maureen Escalderon of Portland, and Kathy O’Connell and husband Doug Robinson of Tigard;

grandchildren Roger, Emily, Keith, Kristina, Nick, Jimmy, and Jenny, and great-grandchildren Audrey, Dominick and Logan.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 11 AM at St. John Fisher Catholic Church, 7007 SW 46th Avenue in Portland, followed by interment with military honors at Crescent Grove Cemetery in Tigard.

The family would like to make special mention of the several of Jack’s neighbors who cared for him in his later years: Jeff and Linda Skinner, Tom Bishop, and Margaret Murphy. Their loving assistance was always appreciated and Jack’s family is truly grateful.