THE late great Paudie O’Connor will be remembered by family and friends at a celebration of his life in Las Vegas next Wednesday.
The former Mayor of Killarney, the most famous and gifted basketball player Ireland has ever produced, passed away at his home in Nevada in the early hours of Wednesday last, at the age of 66.
The funeral Mass will take place at 10.00am in the Guardian Angel Cathedral and a reception will be held afterwards in McMullan’s Irish Pub in Las Vegas. A memorial service will take place in Killarney at a later date.
The larger than life personality, who was one of the most popular sporting and political personalities the town has known, has been living in the US since 1986 and he was a high-profile golf tour business promoter.
A former Presentation Monastery and St Brendan’s College pupil, Paudie was a member of Killarney Urban District Council from 1974 to 1985, serving as chairman on four occasions, in 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984.
He was a member of Kerry County Council from 1979 to 1985 and, at the age of 29, he unsuccessfully contested the general election for Fine Gael in 1981.
The son of Dan and Mai O’Connor from O’Sullivan’s Place, Paudie was s star basketball player with the St Vincent’s club as well as captaining the Irish basketball team at a time when he was deemed the finest point guard in Europe.
In a poignant tribute to Paudie, his family has posted a photograph of him playing golf in the sunshine with the following reflection on his Facebook page:
Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free
I follow the plan God laid for me.
I saw His face, I heard His call,
I took His hand and left it all…
I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss…
Ah yes, these things I, too, shall miss.
My life’s been full, I’ve savoured much:
Good times, good friends, a loved-one’s touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief –
Don’t shorten yours with undue grief.
Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,
Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow..
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