Marylin O’Connor, 80 (though she looked much younger), died peacefully with her children by her side in Ridge, NY on Monday, November 15th. When Marylin was born on September 8th, 1941 to Florence and Albert Zell she completed the family unit and became her older brother Allan’s roommate for the remainder of their childhoods. The apartment they lived in at 2121 St. Raymonds Avenue in the Bronx was filled with piano music, spaetzle, and a yearning for the Zell children to embody the American dream that their father, Albert, who came to the US by boat from Germany as a teenager, had very successfully achieved for them.
It was shortly after taking a chemistry class with one of the nicer nuns at St. Helena’s High School that she conjured up the confidence to apply to nursing school. At St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Hoboken, NJ her leadership skills bloomed in the form of student council president and founder of a revamped big sister mentoring program. When she was a first year, the program consisted of older students ordering the “plebs” to do embarrassing and grueling tasks. True to her solid moral character, Marylin worked to make things better for those who would come after her by instead matching students with mentors to guide, not ridicule. She took great pride in her professional calling and would not stand for diminishment of its importance.
After earning her RN, she worked for the following four years in the operating room at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx. During that time she would take a fateful trip to the Jersey Shore where she met her future husband, Brian. They were married in 1965. For the following twenty years the pair moved around the country. She subsequently shifted her focus out of the OR and channeled all of her energy and love to her life's greatest achievement, their four children: David, Edward, Jaimee, and Kristen. Although she often referred to her career then as one of homemaker, she often found her way into clinical work at local hospitals and nursing homes in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.
As soon as the children were old enough to attend school, she returned as well. She graduated at the top of her class from Pace University in Pleasantville, NY with a Bachelor of Science followed quickly by a Master of Science in Nursing Administration. One of the highlights of her education was being named Valedictorian of her master’s program. Earning the highest GPA in her class secured an invitation to deliver the Honor’s Day Speech, which she did with characteristic poise and confidence. Her degrees served her well when, after parting from Brian, she returned to Jacobi in 1991. She would work there for the next several years progressing from OR staff nurse, to head nurse of neurosurgery, to Assistant Director of Nursing.
Though her career was curtailed due to her health, the extra time off enabled her to enjoy refining her botanical and equine art skills. She was a truly gifted artist whose talents can be viewed on her children’s walls, in past editions of the Ferry Sloops newsletter, and in recent editions of her local community communications.
She will be remembered fondly for her amazing pancakes, gorgeous gardens, incredible artistic talent, classy style, delicious renditions of Julia Child’s Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence, crossword puzzle skills, love of sailing, reading, and horses (especially a dapple grey), and a knack for spoiling her five cherished grandchildren with love. She is survived by her children David O’Connor, Edward O’Connor (Ann), Jaimee O’Connor (Mahesh), and Kristen O’Connor-Gunn (Cam), grandchildren Krishna Bhaskar, Ciaran Bhaskar, Devi Bhaskar, Emmett Gunn, and Estie Gunn, her brother Allan (Peggy), nephew Richard (Heather), and niece Annmarie (Rick). She is predeceased by her parents Albert and Florence Zell, and her infant son, John.
Visitation will be from 2-5 pm on Sunday, November 21 at Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home, 6110 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, NY.
Funeral Liturgy on Monday, November 22 at 10:30 am at St. Margaret of Cortona Church, Bronx, NY. Interment Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, NY.