AIMEE O'C0NNOR'S OBITUARY

 

Aimee O'Connor with father, Bill O'Connor 

Aimee O’Connor obituary

 

The obituary for Aimee Jo O’Connor, written by her father, retired BJ columnist and feature writer Bill O’Connor:

 

Aimee Jo O'Connor, 54, of Stow, died Jan. 8. She was a nurse who worked with those afflicted with covid. The disease killed her.

 

 Aimee was born in Havre, Mt. on Sept. 21, 1966, the daughter of William T. and Jacquelyne Tarr O'Connor.

 

When Aimee was in elementary school, the family moved to Ohio. After high school and post-secondary education, she worked for a while as a business executive, but was restless there. She then discovered her true vocation and became a nurse.

 

 For Aimee, nursing was, indeed, a vocation - a calling. When growing up she greatly enjoyed the TV series, MASH, and taped and replayed episodes. The characters worked in an army field hospital treating wounded and dying soldiers.

 

 Aimee ended up doing much the same thing and would smile at the irony. She cared deeply for her patients and did not flinch in the face of the constant danger health-care workers face.

 

 When she was a child, a teacher asked students to select a poem that reflected what they wanted to do in life. She chose these lines from Emily Dickenson:

 

 If I can stop one heart from breaking,

 I shall not live in vain;

 If I can ease one life from aching,

 Or cool one pain,

 Or help one fainting robin

 Unto his nest again,

 I shall not live in vain.

 

 Since her death, we have received well over a hundred condolences and heart-felt remembrances from patients, former patients, and colleagues in her profession. Her hope was that we, as a country, finally will receive the enlightened national leadership needed to use all our resources to battle this horrific enemy.

 

 Aimee was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, William and Ruth O'Connor, and her maternal grandfather, Jack Tarr.

 

She is survived by her parents, her brothers, William and Loren (Tonia), her sister, Rebecca, her maternal grandmother, Geraldine Tarr, many nieces and nephews, especially Cheryl, Michelle, Zachary, Ryan, Nathan and Madeline, and her co-workers at Kent Altercare, who were like family.

 

 Because of the plague, there will be no services. Cremation has taken place at Bissler & Sons Funeral Home, Kent. At a later time, there will be a celebration of Aimee's life.

 

 Our daughter was a hero. She did not die in vain.