Victor – Elizabeth Ann Stackpole O’Connor died peacefully at her creekside home in Victor, MT on Sunday morning, January 5, 2020 surrounded in love by several of her children and grandchildren. Elizabeth, born December 2, 1930 in Brockton, MA, attended local schools in Brockton before graduating from the Carney Hospital School of Nursing in Dorchester, MA in 1952. It was during her time in nursing school that she met her beloved husband, Francis “Franny” William O’Connor, with whom she celebrated 58 years of a full and happy marriage, sharing their love and friendship, laughter and sorrows, until his passing in 2012. Elizabeth, lovingly, known as “Betty” to those closest to her, was a longtime resident of Weymouth, MA where she raised her eight children and worked for over 40 years as the managing nurse of the Whittaker Rest Home prior to her move west to Montana. She will always be remembered for her generosity, selflessness, kindness, and compassion.
As if raising eight children, each of whom she wholeheartedly supported and believed in, was not incredible enough, she somehow did so without ever learning to drive. If Franny was not with her, Betty was seen riding her bike or walking to the countless soccer and basketball games, track meets, scouting events, music recitals, parent teacher conferences, and beyond. She never hesitated to take the “T” to downtown Boston with family or friends to see a show, shop, listen to the “Pops,” or tour one of the museums. Countless days were spent at the ocean that she loved from the beaches of the Massachusetts coastline up to Maine with her lobstering family, all while never skipping out on work. Elizabeth was committed to and passionate about her work; a job few could have managed with such humor, love, and grace. Elizabeth, for over four decades, nursed some of the most challenging, yet vulnerable elderly and mentally ill in a health care system that had otherwise left them behind, always treating them as she would want to be treated, with the dignity and respect they so needed and deserved. For years, Elizabeth would bring her patients home to celebrate holidays with her family. She willingly sacrificed her own needs to ensure there was an open chair and enough to go around for anyone in need of communion and love. She retired in her later years to Montana with Franny, until his death, spending her last years surrounded by the younger generation of grandchildren who she lovingly supplied with jellybeans and memories until her last day. Not insignificant, she will be greatly missed by her faithful golden retriever, Abbey.
Elizabeth’s love for cooking, dancing, and music was instilled in all of her family. She will forever be remembered swaying to Willie or Elvis in the kitchen while preparing meals at the kitchen counter. Decades of home cooked family meals, formal Sunday dinners after church, and countless birthday cakes were all lovingly prepared with what looked like ease well into her later years. She was a woman who gave of herself every day; devout in her Catholic faith, in spite of true loss and sorrow, she was a loving and devoted mother and grandmother to her family, independent and fiercely strong up until her last days.
She was greeted in death by her parents, Martin and Lillian Stackpole, her brothers Jerry and Martin Stackpole, her sister Mary MacDonald; and her son Francis W. O’Connor, Jr. And, she is now reunited with her loving husband “Franny”. She will be dearly missed by her seven children, Maureen Lindholm and her husband Robert of Carver, MA, Bridget Bowers of Victor, MT, Elizabeth Robertshaw and her husband Scott of Marshfield, MA, Sean O’Connor of South Boston, Colleen Alber and her husband Mark of Stevensville, MT, Timothy O’Connor of Boston, and Kerry O’Connor and her husband Jon Foster of Victor, MT; as well as her sister Kathy Savina of Taunton, MA. She is also survived by several grandchildren near and far; Robert, Matthew, and Paul Lindholm, Sean O’Connor, Meghan Bowers, Zachary Robertshaw, Declan and Allanah O’Connor, Cassidy and Cale Alber, and Iris, Penelope and Annabelle Oonagh Foster; along with several great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.
Services and a celebration of her life will be held at a later date when she will return home to be laid to rest with her husband at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, on Cape Cod. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com.