Connie O’Connor was a vivacious 26-year old when her life was
prematurely taken in a car accident off Highway 101. But nine years
later, her memory lives on through a memorial fund her mother
started that has given money to local schools every year.
Hollister – Connie O’Connor was a vivacious 26-year old when her life was prematurely taken in a car accident off Highway 101. But nine years later, her memory lives on through a memorial fund her mother started that has given money to local schools every year.
Last year, the fund donated $6,000 to three area schools, including Sunnyslope Elementary, where O’Connor taught and Sacred Heart School, which she had attended as a student. This year, O’Connor’s mother, Joan Perreira, will continue to keep Connie’s memory alive with a fundraiser April 9 that will raise more money for new donations.
“This helps ease the pain of losing her,” said Perreira. “She would have been 35 this April. She could have done so much.”
Sunnyslope has been a yearly recipient of money from the fund and last year got $2,000 worth of books for the school library. Sacred Heart received a check for a similar amount, which it used to buy science kits, said Kathy O’Donnell, principal at Sacred Heart.
Perreira got the idea to start a memorial fund the day after her daughter’s death, in April of 1996, after recalling what her daughter told her about not wanting flowers at her funeral.
O’Connor grew up in San Benito County and went on to graduate from Whitman College in Washington and Chapman University in Monterey. But she longed to come back to where her roots were and soon began teaching at Sunnyslope, said Perreira. She taught the kids Irish dancing, puppetry and incorporated drama and dance into many of her classes.
“She came back here to make a difference in her community,” said Perreira.
Today, one of the ways she is doing that is through books and a software program at Sunnyslope called Accelerated Reader, purchased with money from the memorial fund and with Connie’s name inside.
“Every year, there is less and less money for libraries,” said Joanne Kiesewetter, a librarian at the school. “Whenever she gives us a check, it’s a chance to buy the books we need.”
This year state funding for school libraries dropped from $28 per student to less than $1.50, said Kiesewetter.
Perreira’s next fundraiser, a luncheon and raffle, is scheduled for April 9. Raffle tickets are $5 and all proceeds go to the memorial fund. For more information, contact Joan Perreira at 637-7185.
