Timothy O'Connell Obituary

Timothy S. O'Connell
1962 - 2023
Southern Pines, NC
With great sadness we announce the passing of our beloved son, brother, Uncle, and friend Tim O'Connell, 61, on Saturday, November 25th, 2023, at First Health Hospice House in West End, NC, surrounded by family and friends.
Timothy Stanton O'Connell was born October 18th, 1962 in Holyoke, Massachusetts to Nancy Cadigan O'Connell and F. Stanton O'Connell.
Tim lived most of his life in South Hadley, MA where he formed deep and lasting friendships that have sustained him throughout his life. He attended South Hadley public schools and swam competitively in high school. He was an avid golfer at The Orchards in South Hadley and at other area clubs. Tim was always an early riser and he relished pre-dawn road trips for surf fishing on Cape Cod, setting up his gear and catching the sunrise on Race Point Beach.
He worked for the O'Leary Company, "walking the high steel," and after receiving his BS in Business Administration from Western New England University in 1989 he worked on solid ground and began a long and fruitful career as a Construction Project Manager.
In 2011 he moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina and worked on the Grounds Crew at Pinehurst, developing a storied resume. He was foreman on Course #4, and worked Pinehurst #2, #7 and #8 as needed. In 2014, Tim worked the Men's and the Women's back-to-back US Opens on Course #2. For the last several years he worked for Rhetson Companies Inc., in West End, NC as a Lead Project Manager.
Tim was beloved by his nieces and nephews. Uncle Timmer's presence at family events ensured a fun time for them. They loved his always inclusive, high-spirited participation and encouragement in games and sports, and benefitted from his patient and skillful sharing of knowledge about golf, fishing, board games, snow ball battles, cards, ping-pong, or any game of skill or chance. He was a gamer and a good sport, and he sought to nurture those qualities in the younger generations.
He recently joined the Elks Lodge in Southern Pines, NC where he served, too briefly, as co-chair of the golf committee. He greatly enjoyed volunteering with the Elks and the friendship and camaraderie he found there.
Timothy was predeceased by his father (F. Stanton O'Connell) and his maternal and paternal grandparents (Mary (Lavelle) and Patrick Cadigan, both of County Mayo, Ireland, and Holyoke, Massachusetts; and Mary (McHale) and Frank O'Connell of Holyoke, Massachusetts). He leaves behind his mother Nancy (Cadigan) O'Connell of Southern Pines (formerly of South Hadley, Massachusetts); his older brother Brian and sister-in-law Lucy, of Changchun, China; younger brother Owen O'Connell and older sister Ann Aileen O'Connell, both of Columbus, Ohio; younger sister Katie O'Connell and brother-in-law Scott Robinson, of New York; nephews Conor and McKean O'Connell; Joseph (and wife Jillian Entenman) and Caleb Yuan; nieces Mary Delaney and Meseret Morphew; and great-nephew Charles Stanton Yuan; and many O'Connell, Cadigan, Martin, and Lavelle cousins.
In lieu of flowers, donations in remembrance of Tim may be made to:
First Health Hospice of the Carolinas [First Health Hospice] or your local hospice provider.
Or to:
The Southern Pines Elks Lodge, Chapter 1692
515 So. East Broad Street
Southern Pines, NC 28387
Tim is greatly missed by his family and friends and all whose lives he touched. A Celebration of Life will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday March 16th, 2024 at Willetts Hallowell Center on the campus of Mt. Holyoke College, 25 Park St., South Hadley, MA.