Joseph O’Connell of East Hampton, 87, “lived with conviction, strength and courage — his way — never accepting the status quo, fighting the good fight, and endeavoring to give voice to the voiceless,” wrote his daughter Kathleen O’Connell. Calling him “a hero among men,” she added that his “humor, unwavering ethics, and indestructible values were at the core of his character.”
Mr. O’Connell died on Oct. 10.
Known as Doc or Dr. Joe, he came to the South Fork in the mid-1960s and made an indelible mark here. As a vice president and director of operations for the East Hampton Youth Alliance from 1993 to 2000, Mr. O’Connell, who’d had decades of experience working with children in the public school system and was a skilled entrepreneur, helped to create a safe and positive place for kids to go after school, heading up a $4.4 million capital campaign for the East Hampton RECenter. A member of its board of managers, he was appointed the new center’s recreation commissioner, to organize, support, and staff it.
His East End Initiative Foundation provided scholarships and financial assistance to low-income students here, as well as grants to teachers to create innovative educational projects for public schools in East Hampton Town.
Mr. O’Connell was also a founder of Project Most, which has provided enriching after-school programs for children of working families in East Hampton and Springs since 2003 and has since grown to offer weekend and summertime programming.
“Education, athletics, family, and service to children and the underserved” dominated his life, said his family.
Mr. O’Connell was born in Brooklyn on April 7, 1935, to an Irish father, Joseph O’Connell, and a Sicilian mother, the former Josephine Guttadora. He grew up in East New York, where his life of service began at an early age as an altar boy. After attending St. Mary’s Seminary in Kentucky, he went to St. Francis College in Brooklyn on a basketball scholarship, graduating with a degree in sociology. He earned a Master of Science degree in education from Hofstra University and another M.S., in counseling, from Queens College.
He began his professional career in Nassau County, as both an elementary and secondary school teacher and principal.
Mr. O’Connell was “a natural-born leader,” his family said. After a 20-year career in education, he headed multiple innovative companies in the private sector. He was co-founder and executive director of People Resources, the first video-dating service in New York City; served as president of an executive recruiting firm; was chief operations officer and president of Ovex Fertility Corporation, a private fertility company that was the first of its kind, and was president and an AIDS prevention counselor at Personal Diagnostics, the first private and anonymous H.I.V. testing facility, established at the height of the AIDS crisis.
From 1990 to 2012, he was also a professional model for national TV and print ads for such companies as Merck, Pfizer, Novartis, Mass Mutual Insurance, and Hewlett-Packard, having been spotted and scouted on a subway train in the city.
In 1993 he earned a Ph.D. in psychology from LaSalle University, and from 2001 to 2004, he served as a part-time assistant superintendent and part-time guidance counselor for the East Hampton School District.
Mr. O’Connell was a gifted athlete in basketball, baseball, and beach volleyball, and an exceptional tennis player. “With no lessons at all, he walked onto a court at 35, and by 38 he was the club champion at the Amagansett Dunes Racquet Club,” his family wrote. He was also one of the club’s founders. “His tennis game and strategy were legendary. Many feared his fierce forehand.” He was a triple crown winner at three different clubs in East Hampton and Amagansett, and in 1988 was in the top 25 in the Eastern Tennis Association’s 45-and-over age group.
He went on to play at the U.S. Open after winning its Eastern Father-Daughter Tournament in 1979. He held the distinction of being a singles champion in four decades, the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s. As one friend and competitor said in an obituary written by his family, “As merciless as he was on the court, he was even more compassionate off it.”
“He fulfilled dreams, enhanced lives, and delivered time and again by creating projects that he believed East Hampton needed,” his daughter Kathleen wrote.
After a family member was a victim of domestic violence, Mr. O’Connell volunteered as a therapist and counselor at The Retreat, the East Hampton haven for victims of domestic violence, and secured weekly food donations and free summer camp for their children. In 2016 he was honored for his impact on the organization.
That same year, the East Hampton Town Board appointed him a commissioner of the East Hampton Housing Authority, which was building the now-complete Gansett Meadow complex in Amagansett.
He “lived a long and enormously meaningful life,” his family wrote, and his “legacy is a purposeful and significant one.”
Mr. O’Connell was married on April 21, 1973, to Suzanne O’Connell, who survives. He is also survived by five children from his first marriage, Karen Josefak, Keith O’Connell, and Colleen O’Connell of East Meadow; Kathleen O’Connell of Tarrytown, N.Y., and Kristine O’Connell of North Bellmore, and by his daughter-in-law, Sharon O’Connell. He leaves six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Two grandsons, Lucas and Erik, died before him.
A celebration of his life will be held at a date to be announced.
The family has suggested contributions to The Retreat, 13 Goodfriend Drive, East Hampton 11937, or Project Most, P.O. Box 1486, East Hampton.
