Jeremiah Patrick O'Connor

Jeremiah Patrick O’Connor, age 87, passed away on April 23, 2020 at Kingston Residence in Perrysburg, Ohio. Jerry had still been living at home in Perrysburg, with his wife Mary Anne as his primary caregiver, until early January 2020 when she fell gravely ill. Tragically Mary Anne died on March 25, 2020. Now, less than a month later, Jeremiah reunites with her in heaven. Jeremiah was born March 24, 1933 to David Patrick and Mary Josephine (Ryan) O’Connor in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from St. Stephen’s High School in Port Huron, MI in 1951. Jeremiah was active duty in the U.S. Army from 1953 – 1955, when he was transferred to the Reserves. Jeremiah then attended Michigan State University in Lansing, MI where he met his future wife, Mary Anne Castrop. Mary Anne and Jerry were married in September of 1956. Jeremiah graduated from MSU with a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Management. Jerry’s restaurant management career took them to Minnesota and Wisconsin, where their twins Kevin and Kathleen arrived, and they eventually moved back to Port Huron in 1965 after which son Brian and daughter Ann Marie came along. In Port Huron, Jerry managed the Harrington Hotel food service operations. Jeremiah then realized his lifelong dream and opened The Fogcutter restaurant in 1969. He operated it for over 33 years. The Fogcutter restaurant was a special place, with a stunning top floor location in the Peoples Bank building in downtown Port Huron overlooking the St. Clair River and the beautiful Blue Water Bridge. It was a large restaurant operation, with two full kitchens, seating for over 350 people, including the banquet rooms. The Fogcutter excelled with exceptional food and service, in an era where business luncheons and fine dining were the norm. At any given day during the year, Port Huron locals ended up enjoying the view and the food for a multitude of special occasions. It was the go-to place for any celebration, from birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and funeral luncheons, to proms and graduations. The best St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Port Huron happened at the Fogcutter. Under the careful kitchen management of Jerry’s sister Mae Keyworth, the recipes for all desserts, salad dressings, condiments and soups were scratch made. Many will remember the Fogcutter salad and dressing, the Maurice salad, Hot Brown sandwich, Almond Fried Shrimp, Lake Huron perch and Walleye, exceptional prime rib on the weekends, and the famous Mile High Fogcutter Pie for dessert. Staffing at the Fogcutter was a family affair as well. In addition to sister Mae, Jerry’s brother David P. O’Connor Jr. was also employed as a dining room manager. All four of Jerry’s children grew up with The Fogcutter as an integral part of their lives and they all worked there starting at fourteen years of age, as dishwashers and bus kids and working up to waitstaff and bartenders over the years. Jeremiah was instrumental in teaching his children the value of hard work and service to others. Jeremiah was the consummate host. He was the type of restaurant owner who visited every table and knew all his staff and regular customers by name. He was a warm and generous Irishman, proud of his family and heritage and clearly had kissed the Blarney Stone several times. He was a tough boss with a tender heart. He was one of the first restaurant owners in the country to provide retirement benefits to loyal restaurant staff. He loved his employees as if they were his second family. There were many special employees on staff at the Fogcutter over the years; at it’s peak he employed 150+ employees at one given time. They will not be surprised to hear that Dad continued to be the ultimate host, despite facing Alzheimer’s disease that affected the last 12 years of his life. Even at his Memory Care locations, he often worked with staff there to cater to and serve his fellow residents. Jeremiah was a creative and innovative businessman. It was his concept to design the restaurant with the Old World theme and red and gold décor that were early Fogcutter staples. He and Mary Anne added the Vagabond Gift Center to the lobby of the restaurant, which specialized in fine gifts, artwork and collectibles. Additionally, they added a second gift shop in downtown Port Huron called Tomorrow’s Keepsakes. The insistence of scratch made food and recipes, their in-house linen service and backroom accounting and management staff were instrumental in creating a successful enterprise. Jeremiah was a civic leader as well. He was on the board of Port Huron Mercy Hospital and the Michigan and National Restaurant Associations. He was close friends with many other Michigan restaurant owners. He was an active member of the Downtown Port Huron and the Port Huron Tourism and Travel groups. He was a member of Port Huron Golf Club, and golf was definitely one of his lifelong passions. He scored not one, but three holes in one in his lifetime, the last when he was in his early 80s on the island green at The Legacy in Ottawa Lake, Michigan. Boating in his vintage wood boat named the Vagabond on Lake Huron, tennis, golf, travel, and entertaining family and friends was Mary Anne and Jeremiah’s life while raising their four children in Port Huron. They spent their golden years at their two beautiful retirement homes at Terra Vida, Scottsdale, Arizona and most recently at Lakewood Ranch in Florida. They moved from Port Huron to Perrysburg, Ohio in 2006 to be close to their children and grandchildren. Most importantly, Jeremiah was a family man with a heart of gold. He will be missed the most by his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who loved Papa O and his willingness to always be silly and playful with them. Jeremiah is survived by son, Kevin (Debbie) O’Connor; daughter, Kathleen (Kevin) Carmony; son, Brian O’Connor; daughter, Ann Marie (Dean) Schlicher; seven grandchildren, Kaitlin (Kyle) Ganss, Tyler (Christina) Carmony, Nick(Sarah) Carmony, Brittany (Octavio) Delao, Jeremy Richardson, Maxwell (Caylee) O’Connor and Erin O’Connor; six great-grandchildren, Jaxson, Emmerson, Kolton, Madeline, Giovanni and Novella; his brother David P. (Elizabeth) O’Connor Jr., and sisters Margaret (John) Joyce and Mary Jo (Gerard) Hepburn. He was preceded in death by his wife Mary Anne, parents, David Patrick and Mary Josephine O’Connor, his sisters Hannah (Howard) Keyworth and Eileen (Bob) Dunn, and brother Dennis (Nancy) O’Connor. The family’s heartfelt thanks go to the staff of Kingston Memory Care Residence, who helped make the end of his life comfortable, to the staff at Memory Lane Adult Alzheimer’s Care who were instrumental in us being able to keep Dad home with Mom until almost the end of his life, and to Dad’s primary care physician, Dr. Dave Oram and his entire practice, who have gone above and beyond reasonable expectations to provide exceptional care for Dad during a very difficult end of life journey. Due to current stay at home mandates pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic, the family intends to hold a funeral mass followed by a joint Celebration of Life for both Jeremiah and Mary Anne O’Connor sometime this summer. In the meantime, online condolence messages may be left for the family at Walkerfuneralhomes.com. If inclined, donations may be made in Jeremiah’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association in memory of the devastation this disease has brought to his entire family.