Friends say O'Connor worked to 'make world better place'

December 3, 2001

Dave Wedge, Boston Herald

BOSTON -- Former congressional candidate and noteworthy environmental activist John O'Connor was remembered yesterday by family and friends as a 'legend' who used his considerable wealth to fight for his beliefs and protect what he loved most: the Earth.

'John always seemed larger than life and that part of him lives on,' friend and close confidant Neil Sullivan said. 'He will forever be a legend in the minds of all who knew him. He has more friends than anyone could imagine.'

O'Connor, 46, of Cambridge died Friday after suffering a heart attack while playing basketball at the Cambridge YMCA. Born in Stratford, Conn., O'Connor began his environmental activism in college when he learned his neighborhood ball field was built on top of a toxic waste dump.

O'Connor played basketball at Clark University and worked in the neighborhoods of Worcester, fighting against arson and pollution and starting the grassroots Massachusetts Fair Share program.

In 1983, he founded the National Toxics Campaign, which was instrumental in getting the $8 billion Superfund federal environmental cleanup law passed. In 1998, he ran for Congress, losing the primary to eventual winner Rep. Michael Capuano. 'John spent his life making the world a better place. What he achieved will outlive us all,' his wife, Carolyn Mugar, said yesterday.

An author who penned three books, he also founded Greenworks, a corporation that helped finance environmental start-up companies, and the Irish Famine Memorial Committee. The committee raised funds to build a memorial on Cambridge Common in 1997 - the first such memorial in the United States.

A philanthropist who supported many local and national charities, he fought against deregulation of the electric industry in Massachusetts and founded the Health Action Alliance, which sought universal health care for the Bay State.

'John O'Connor's entire life was spent focusing on the public good,' Cambridge Mayor Anthony Galluccio said. 'John impacted hundreds and hundreds of people's lives locally and was active in virtually every local charity and cause that I can think of, especially those that involved children.'

In addition to his wife, O'Connor is survived by a stepdaughter, Chloe; two brothers, George F. O'Connor III of California and James of Massachusetts; a sister, Emily Karolyi of Washington, D.C.; and his parents, Katherine and George O'Connor of Stratford, Conn.

Arrangements by Bedrosian Funeral Home, Watertown.

Caption: O'CONNOR: `Will forever be a legend' to loved ones.