MARGARET (PEGGY) O'CONNOR

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MARGARET (PEGGY) O'CONNOR Margaret (Peggy) O'Connor (nee Lyons) passed away peacefully on Saturday, July 5, 2014 with her immediate family about Peggy was born in Winnipeg, in 1916, the second of six children of James and Molly Lyons. She went to school in Stony Mountain and West-End Winnipeg until she went to Chicago where she lived with Uncle Jim, Aunt Mary and cousin Cathy to finish high school and then obtain a business diploma. After returning to Winnipeg, she worked for Great West Life for five years until she met and married Frank O'Connor in 1942. They lived on Maryland Street in Winnipeg where they raised their four children. They transferred with the C.P.R. to Saskatchewan and then Montreal. On retirement they moved to Vancouver Island. Peggy remained in their Sidney condo after Frank's death in 2005 until her deteriorating health forced a move to the Saanich Peninsula Extended Care Unit. She was predeceased by her husband, an infant son George, her daughter Peggy Ann (James) and her five brothers and sisters. She is survived by three of her children: James (Ann), Frances (Glen Williams) and David (Mary) all of BC; by her six grandchildren: Derek (Kim) O'Connor, Emlyn (Angela) James, Brenda O'Connor, Lara (Kevin) Dixon, Francis James and Julie (Darren) Smart; and by her eight great-grandchildren, Trinity Dickerson, Jace and Macy Dixon, Ashley and Kaelyn Smart and JohnMarko, Paris and Spyro James. A memorial service will be held at St. Elizabeth's on Third Street in Sidney, Friday, July 11 at 2:00 p.m. Interment will take place at a later date alongside Frank at St. Mary's Cemetery in Winnipeg. In lieu of flowers, Peggy would have appreciated donations to your chosen charity, the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation, 2166 Mt. Newton, Saanichton, BC V8M 2B2; the Knights of Columbus Council 9703 or the Parish CWL, both c/o St. Elizabeth's, 10030 3rd Street, Sidney, BC V8L 3B3. Loved by all her family, her many friends and care workers, Peggy will be fondly remembered for her smile and her abiding concern for everyone she met; to quote her High School paper: "the epitome of friendliness". Her motto was always: "if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all".

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 08, 2014