Clifford O’Connell, 84, formerly of Newport News, VA passed away July 14 at JML Care Center in Falmouth, MA from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. Cliff will be remembered and missed by his family and friends as a gracious host, with a kind and patient demeanor, eloquent wit and timing, steadfast devotion to logic and grammar, musical talent and knowledge, and overall love of a good time. He is survived by Hope (Horner) O’Connell, his wife of 55 years; two daughters Irene O’Connell and Katherine “Katy” O’Connell, all of Woods Hole; sister in law Dorothy “Dot” O’Connell; niece and nephews Patricia O’Connell, Christopher O’Connell, Timothy O’Connell, and James O’Connell and their families; sister in law Judy Morgan; nephews Earl Smith, Wayne Morgan, and Adam Morgan and their families, and niece in law Julie Smith. He was predeceased by his brother Harold Robert “Bobby” O’Connell.
Born in Fall River, MA, Cliff moved with his parents Harold and Viola (Makowsky) O’Connell and his older brother Bobby from Bristol, RI to West Falmouth, MA when he was seven. He spent an idyllic childhood ice skating on cranberry bogs, jumping into the water off the Chapoquoit Road bridge, and riding the train home after Saturday matinees on Main Street. By age 10 Cliff discovered an extraordinary talent for piano. He would pay for much of his undergraduate and medical education with money he earned playing piano around Falmouth in later years.
In 1956 Cliff graduated from Lawrence High School, where he was voted most musical, smartest, and cleverest. At Tufts University in Medford, MA, Cliff joined the Delta Upsilon Fraternity where he made lifelong friends. Cliff graduated magna cum laude from Tufts in 1960 and was admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine, graduating in 1964. As a student in Boston, he discovered the Boston Symphony Orchestra which inspired his passion for live symphony and classical music.
After completing his medical internship at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, IL, Cliff went on to flight school in Pensacola, FL. As a flight surgeon in the U.S. Navy he was stationed in Norfolk, VA and attached to Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 56. He treated 104 patients in one day at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, VA, and subsequently developed an interest in pathology.
While stationed in Norfolk, Cliff purchased a new Dodge Dart and a Steinway piano and went on a blind date with Hope Horner. The piano and the date would accompany him for the rest of his life. Cliff and Hope met in November 1966, were engaged in April 1967, and married in June that year. Legend has it during their courtship and early days of their marriage, Hope would sit on Cliff’s shoulders while he played the piano at parties with Navy colleagues. When he had to ship out for a short period after their wedding and returned home in the middle of the night a day earlier than expected, she famously forgot his name when she heard him come through the door.
Cliff and Hope’s first daughter Irene was born in 1969. When Cliff left the Navy later that year, the family relocated to Richmond, VA where he completed his residency in Pathology at the Medical College of Virginia (Virginia Commonwealth University). Their second daughter Katy was born in 1972. The family settled in Newport News, VA in 1973 when Cliff accepted a job as Pathologist at Hampton General Hospital (Sentara Careplex Hospital), where he worked for 30 years.
He loved to sail on the James River, first in a Cape Cod Bull’s Eye and later a Hobie catamaran. He took his family on ski trips in Virginia, New England, and out west. After years of accompanying his young daughters to the roller rink on Main Street in Newport News, Cliff fantasized about opening a rink that would play classical music. He was known to entertain his college friends at annual summer reunions by roller skating inside the house. In middle age, Cliff cultivated an appreciation for tennis, playing with two partners who would rotate in a round robin taking turns out of the summer heat to watch professional tennis indoors on TV when he would often fall asleep.
Cliff shared his many passions with his family, but the single love the family of four enjoyed together was summer on Cape Cod. When Cliff retired in 2002, he and Hope moved full-time to what had been their summer home in Woods Hole, MA. During his retirement, Cliff indulged his loves of classical music and high-fidelity audio equipment, walks through the village, reading, corresponding with friends over e-mail, and partaking in Hope’s gourmet cuisine, proclaiming after each meal that it was the best he ever had.
After receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease ten years ago, Cliff worked hard to stay healthy and active, exercising at the gym two hours a day, taking walks with his daughters as much as his body would allow, and more recently participating in physical therapy. He rarely complained or expressed his frustration as simple tasks became harder. After breaking his hip in March, he and his family were grateful for the compassion, expertise, and kindness of the staff at JML who cared for him first as a rehab patient and eventually as a hospice patient. Their commitment in the face of the cascading challenges of these difficult times is remarkable. Be kind to health care workers! The family encourages friends to celebrate Cliff’s life with a swim, a sail, music, good company and a dry martini or an ice cream cone. Donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research or a Parkinson’s charity of choice. A memorial will be planned in Woods Hole for a later date. For online guestbook and obituary please visit www.chapmanfuneral.com
