Pat O’Connor

March 17, 1923 –November 28, 2007

Patricia O’Connor wife, mother, grandmother, traveler, citizen of the world, died peacefully on November 28, 2007 at North Memorial Hospice after suffering a massive stroke on November 23, 2007.

Energetic to the end, Granny Pat, as her grandchildren knew her, was an inspiring figure, telling many stories about her travels to far-flung places including Cambodia, Morocco and Australia. She lived for extended times in India and Korea, making friends around the world.

Pat was born on March 17, 1923 in Los Angeles, California to Paul and Grace Thuresson. She grew up in Riverside, California, graduated from Stanford University in California in 1943. She worked for the Office of War Information in San Francisco and the Kiplinger Magazine in Washington, DC. Pat and Paul were married in Riverside, California on June 17, 1948 and then moved to Minnesota.

Pat was an active member of the League of Women Voters. She served on the boards of COMPAS and the Textile Council at the Minnesota Institute of Arts. She was president of the St. Anthony Park Arts Forum. She volunteered teaching English to the wives of University of Minnesota foreign students. While in India, she volunteered with a team of nurses at Holy Family Hospital in New Delhi surveying the surrounding villages to identify health needs in the area.

She was an avid and creative knitter, loved to meet with “the bookies” and her knitting group.

Pat is survived by her husband, Paul; her son, Mike and his wife Marcie; her daughter, Maggie and her partner Linda; four grandchildren, Elliot, Dan, Robert and Richard; her niece, Pat; grandniece, Kathleen; grandnephew, Tom; great-grandniece, Devin; and cousin, Gerdi Heath. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister Maxine.

A memorial service will be held at the Campus Club at the University of Minnesota, December 15 at 3 pm. The Rev. Karla McGray Forsythe will officiate. Relatives and friends are welcome to gather at the Campus Club at 2 p.m. Memorials to the Textile Center Pat O’Connor Library Endowment, the 1666 Coffman Memorial Fund or a charity of your choice are preferred in lieu of flowers.

We would like to thank the staff of the ER and Station 6A at the University of Minnesota Hospital and North Memorial Hospice for their care and support