Joseph James O’Connell ’44, September 12, 2000, in Rockville, Maryland. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Joseph worked as a tunnel patrolman as a teenager. He enlisted in the Army in World War II and served as a military police officer in Okinawa. He attended Reed and graduated from Queens College. He received a master’s degree in American history from Columbia University, where he also worked toward a doctorate in history. For 25 years Joseph worked for the Civil Service Commission, then the army department in France, transferring to the National Institute of Health in 1966. He was a classification specialist with what is now the Department of Health and Human Services until his retirement in 1976. He and his wife, Peggy, had a daughter and two sons, and later divorced. He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Elizabeth; three children; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister.
