Carol O'Conor, Longtime Ottawa Resident and Former Teacher, Dies at 100 in Evanston

Carol Hedman O'Conor, a longtime resident of Ottawa, Illinois, died October 18 in Evanston at the age of 100. She died peacefully, surrounded by family. Visitation will be held Friday, October 30, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Columba Church in Ottawa, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00. Burial will be private and will take place immediately afterward at St. Vincent Cemetery in LaSalle.

O'Conor was born December 5, 1925, in Evanston to Lillian (Noth) and Herbert R. Hedman, and grew up in Winnetka. She graduated from New Trier High School and attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, before transferring to National College of Education in Evanston, where she majored in Education.

After graduating, she taught primary grades at Dwight School in Englewood, New Jersey. She later moved to the Los Angeles area, where she taught primary grades in public schools in Long Beach and Inglewood.

On September 13, 1952, she married Andrew J. O'Conor of Ottawa at Saints Faith, Hope & Charity Church in Winnetka, and moved to Ottawa as a young bride. The couple shared nearly 46 years of marriage and traveled widely, both in the United States and abroad. The home they built in Ottawa was the center of their family life for nearly 70 years.

Over her many years in the city, O'Conor served a long list of local organizations. They included the Pink Ladies at Ryburn Hospital, the Easter Seals board, the St. Columba School board, the Child Welfare Guild, the Community Hospital of Ottawa Foundation and the Health Center of Eastern LaSalle County. She also volunteered as an ESL tutor and was an active member of the Heritage Corridor Art program and the Helia Clubs.

Her husband died in 1998, and she went on to live what the family described as a remarkably independent life in Ottawa, the town she called home. She renewed her driver's license every year into her 90s. Her interests included bridge, opera and symphony, gardening, reading and travel, and she enjoyed keeping up with the lives of her children and grandchildren, in person or online. In 2021, she returned to Evanston to live at Westminster Place, closer to family.

O'Conor was a devoted wife and mother, a cherished grandmother and great-grandmother, and a faithful sister, aunt, cousin and friend to many. She will be remembered for her empathy and kindness toward others, her straightforward approach to life's challenges, and her ever-present sense of fun and infectious humor.

She is survived by four children: Kathleen (Robert) Finn of Shelburne, Vermont; Andrew J. O'Conor Jr. (Katherine) of Winnetka; Jane O'Conor (Robert MacKinnon) of Portland, Maine; and Megan O'Conor of Stillwater, Minnesota. Also surviving are eight grandchildren: Andrew, Robert, Nicholas and Scott O'Conor; Maura O'Conor; Robert Finn III; Molly (Dan Foiles); and Anne (Jack Barber). She leaves four great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews, and many lifelong friends of all ages. Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by two sisters, Catherine Cutler and Margot Schneidau, a nephew, Chris Schneidau, and a son-in-law, Harold "John" Honebrink.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made online to the Child Welfare Guild of Ottawa, to St. Brigid Parish (Restoration Fund) in Ottawa, or to the Westminster Place New Hope Scholarship Fund in Evanston.