Edward Joseph O'Neill Jr's Obituary
Edward Joseph O’Neill, Jr. was born on September 1, 1936 after his young parents caught the last ferry from Coronado so he could enter the world at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California. He died 86 years and one month later in Salt Lake City, UT on October 1, 2022 of complications related to Alzheimer’s and vascular diseases, rejoining the love of his life, Marina Joy, whom he had deeply missed for nearly 10 long years.
The second of seven children born to US Navy Rear Admiral Edward J. O’Neill and Susan Elizabeth (Ellis) O’Neill (Speed), “Eddy” and his siblings Brian, Susan, Sheila, John, Michael and Peter grew up during WWII and its aftermath near naval bases in Coronado (2x); Honolulu, HI; Seattle, WA; Newport, RI; Philadelphia, PA; and in Harbor View near Pensacola, FL before the family eventually settled in San Antonio, TX. Many of his happiest childhood memories were of running semi-wild with his older (by
11 months and 20 days) brother Brian amid the tropical tangles of trees, vines, creeks and swamps of Harbor View and of fishing along the Gulf of Mexico with family friend and caretaker Frank Valdemar.
The family had returned from Honolulu mere months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and memories of the reaction on Dec. 7, 1941 as his naval aviator father ran from house to house shouting, “This means war!” were forever seared into his then 5-year-old brain.
He also had vivid memories and admiration for his college educated mother who worked in finance for a defense contractor and helped lead the Gray Ladies (of the American Red Cross) in Southern California while her husband was deployed throughout the war. She purchased a home in Coronado for $6,000 of her own money, selling it a couple of years later for $16,000, which launched her successful real estate career. She was an ardent lover of books, balancing both of her first two little sons on her lap while reading to them from an early age. She also was a nationally ranked bridge player who taught her children the value of intellect and determination. And occasional fierce competitiveness.
Although childhood testing identified him as a highly intelligent thinker, Ed described himself as a distractible and indifferent student, much more interested in his own thoughts and books than school work.
Nevertheless, he graduated from Severn School of Severna Park, MD and received his commission to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he graduated with the 18th Company of the Class of 1959. He had fond memories of his roommates and classmates at USNA and discovered a talent and love for ship navigation during his years at sea. After 10 years of active duty and reaching the rank of lieutenant, he left the Navy to work for the federal government.
Ed married his great love, Marina Joy Blount, on June 3, 1962 in the chapel of Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio. They celebrated 50 years of marriage before she died of breast cancer on December 22, 2012. Together they brought 4 children into the world: Marina Siobhan, Shannon, Traci and Ted, and made their home in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC and the San Francisco Bay Area. They enjoyed vacations along the North Carolina shoreline and trips into the Blue Ridge Mountains. There was nothing like
Dad’s roast beef on Sundays or waking up to the smell of his cinnamon toast on weekends.
Ed was considered a brilliant thinker and respected leader in the US Army Corps of Engineers, where he helped oversee the nation’s waterway projects, submitted annual testimony for the US Congress and was known for his unrelenting command of details and wry, sarcastic wit. When he retired as Chief of the Western Division, he had received numerous prestigious honors and awards, including presidential
accolades, most of which he stashed with little comment in an old leather briefcase, which his daughters discovered while sorting through the family home in Danville, CA.
He was delighted to become “PaPop” to his beloved grandchildren and drove the length of California and through the Sierra Nevadas too manytimes to count so that he and “Meemei” could share birthdays, competitions, performances, Halloween, Christmas and other milestones with them. He read stories, took them to the park, played dice and card games, and taught them to play chess and a mean game of poker.
He kept his love of history and reading throughout his life (creating towers of books), and enjoyed gemology and the hunt for new specimens. He played countless games of cribbage and acey deucey with son-in-law David.
And he remained devoted to his wife, remarking over the past decade that he was impatient to be with her again.
Ed is survived by his siblings, his children and their partners, David James (Marina), Don Scheck (Traci) and Andrea Vitz (Ted), and his grandchildren Blake, Brooklyn, Ryan, Leo, Mackenzie and Aaliya.
Special thanks to Visiting Angels (especially Rebecca Lingo), Hannah Poff and the Ashford Draper’s Memory Care team, and Inspiration Hospice for the kindness and care Ed received in the last years of his life. Burial will take place at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in Salt Lake City on Saturday,
Oct. 15.
Donations in his memory can be made to feed the hungry at Souper Bowl of Caring 6260 Westpark Drive, Suite 260, Houston, TX 77057 or on line at www.tacklehunger.org
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