Mary H. O’Neil

Mary (Hubbard) O’Neil, 80, of 55 Sunset Drive, Glastonbury, formerly of Newtown and Southbury, died on July 9 at St Francis Hospital after a brief illness. She was the widow of George William O’Neil, who died in 1975.

She is survived by a son, Liam O’Neil, and a daughter and son-in-law, Lourdes and James Haynes of Newtown.

Mrs O’Neil’s family has traced its roots to the Hubbards that played a role in the settlement of Glastonbury in the mid-17th Century. She graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes in Manhattan in 1939. In the spring of 1943 she graduated from Manhattanville College in New York City with a BA degree in English. Mrs O’Neil worked as an information clerk at Penn Station during the war and as an editorial assistant on the staff of the America magazine.

Mrs O’Neil was married on April 23, 1954, in St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City to Mr O’Neil of Jackson Street, Ansonia, and, after a honeymoon in Vermont, the couple moved to Connecticut. Mrs O’Neil also worked briefly as a summer stage employee at the former Southbury Playhouse and also taught ballet locally. She retired as a state employee with the State Department of Mental Retardation in 1985.

She is also survived by her brother, John Harvey Hubbard of Belmont, Mass.; her six other children and their spouses, Elizabeth and Paul Fitzpatrick of Glastonbury, Michael O’Neil of Seymour, Patrick and Debbie O’Neil of Chester, Martin and Conniy O’Neil of Northwood, N.H., Benedict and Lori O’Neil of Essex, and Margaret and John O’Brien of Killingworth.

She is also survived by 12 grandchildren, Liam and Luke Fitzpatrick of Glastonbury, Emma and Bessie Haynes of Newtown, Beth and Lindsey O’Neil of Gulf Port, Miss., Mary O’Neil of Northwood, N.H., Georgia and Beatrice O’Neil of Chester, Brendan Jacobsen O’Neil of Stamford, and Jack and Nicholas O’Brien of Killingworth; and a host of nieces and nephews in Greater Boston, Connecticut, and Bernardsville, N.J.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held July 12 at St Augustine Church in South Glastonbury. Donations in her memory may be made to the Dorothy Day Hospitality House, Spring Street, Danbury, CT 06810.

The Newtown Bee         July 20, 2001