Obituary of George W O'Connell

George W. O’Connell, age 81, of Franklin Lakes and Long Beach Island, died Sunday, October 9, 2016 at Southern Ocean County Medical Center in Manahawkin, NJ. Born in Philadelphia, PA, he was the son of the late John and Edna O’Connell. He had resided in Franklin Lakes for the past 43 years. George was a member of the Grace Methodist Church in Wyckoff and the Spray Beach Yacht Club on Long Beach Island. He was a graduate of Upper Darby High School where he was a football player and varsity letter winner in wrestling. George attended Bloomsburg University with a BA in Education. George was a member of the varsity wrestling team and remained an active alumni and wrestling program supporter through the years. During his college years he spent his summers in Wildwood earning the money to put himself through college as, among other things, a lifeguard on the beach patrol. After graduating, he became a teacher at Dover High School and followed his passion to work with youth as the wrestling coach for which he was later inducted into the NJ Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame. He later became a sales executive in the paper industry with a long and successful career that spanned his first job at Scott Paper Co. to his last with Georgia Pacific. George loved the ocean and the beach and combining those things with time spent with family and friends were some of his most happy times. He will be tremendously missed by all who knew and loved him. Along with his parents he was predeceased by his brother, Joseph O’Connell this past April and his other siblings Jack and Betty. He is survived by his beloved wife of 54 years, Janice; his son, Geoff and his wife, Eileen, of Whitehouse Station; his daughter, Suzanne Pool of Princeton Junction; and his six cherished grandchildren, Caleigh, Ryan, Aiden and Reagan O’Connell and Connor and Brogan Pool. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 10:30 AM at the South Branch Reformed Church, 870 River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844. Friends may visit with the family on Friday, October 14 from 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the Kearns Funeral Home, 103 Old Highway 28, Whitehouse, NJ 08888. Burial will be at South Branch Reformed Church Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Eden Autism Foundation, Development Office, 2 Merwick Road Princeton, NJ 08540 www.edenautism.org