Michael J. O Neil

Michael Joseph O''Neil, 91, of Easton, MD passed away November 26, 2007 at Memorial Hospital at Easton. Mike was born on April 18, 1916 in Newark, New Jersey, the 7th child of Michael F. and Josephine O’Neil, but the only one to survive past childhood. He attended Regis High School in New York City, graduating in 1932. He majored in English at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, where he was active in the orchestra, glee club and also played the piano in a swing band. He graduated St. Peter’s in1937 and was honored there as a member of “The Most Noble Order of the Peacock”. He studied law at the University of Newark, now Rutgers, and was awarded his law degree in 1943. He joined the Navy in 1942, attending officer training school at Princeton and Harvard and then was stationed in Little Creek, VA and Savannah, GA. He married Georgina T. Smith on July 17, 1943 in New York City. Lieutenant O’Neil was deployed as the Communication Officer aboard the U.S.S. Inflict in the Pacific, sweeping harbors and coastlines for mines in advance of larger naval craft until 1946. Returning from WWII, Mike worked as an attorney in East Orange and Westfield N.J., while studying law for a year at New York University and teaching law at Rutgers for 8 years. In 1958 he joined the N.J. Bell Telephone Company and became Vice President-General Counsel in 1966. In 1975 he was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, by N.J. Governor Brendan T. Byrne. Judge O’Neil served at the Essex County Courthouse in Newark until his mandatory retirement at age 70 in 1986, but continued on recall duty in several other counties in N.J. until 1997. Mike and his family lived in Orange, N.J. from 1960-2006 and were members of the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, South Orange, N.J. Mike was active in the choir and the Knights of Columbus, and he was also a member of the Maplewood Men’s Choir and served as a legal advisor to the Orange Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Mike loved playing the piano, singing, swimming, sailing, reading, completing New York Times crossword puzzles in record time, and making terrible puns. Mike was a 90 year resident of Essex County, N.J., relocating to Easton in October 2006. After suffering a stroke in March 2007, he lived the last 6 months at William Hill Manor Health Care Center in Easton. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Georgina Smith O’Neil; his 7 children: Thomas M. O’Neil of Halifax, N.S.; Mary R. O’Neil and husband Greg O’Leary of Seattle, WA; Michael B. O’Neil and wife Catherine Stewart of Vancouver, B.C.; Kathleen O’Neil and husband Bob Luker of Toronto, Ont.; David O’Neil of California; Margaret O’Neil of Morristown, N.J.; Judy O’Neil and husband Bill Dennison of Easton, MD; his grandchildren: Patrick and Christopher O’Neil; Michael O’Leary; Brendan and Georgia O’Neil; Naomi Luker; and Elizabeth and Laura Dennison and his nephews: George Smith of Dover DE; Ray Smith of Poughkeepsie NY; James Alan Smith of Southhampton, NY and niece Trudy Morrison of Kimberton, PA. A Funeral Liturgy for Mr. O’Neil will be celebrated on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 10:00 AM at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Easton, MD. Friends may call on Friday evening from 6 to 7 PM at Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., Easton, MD. Burial will be at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Cordova, MD. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to scholarship funds at Regis High School, 55 East 84th St., New York, NY 10028 , Attn: Development Office or St. Peter’s College, 2641 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07306, Attn: Office of Advancement.