[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S498-S500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING TIM O'CONNOR

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to remember a 
remarkable Vermonter, Tim O'Connor, who passed away last week.
  For those of us who knew him, Tim was unforgettable. He had a 
terrific sense of humor, especially when it involved the Irish. 
Marcelle and I have been friends with Tim and his wife, Martha, since I 
was a young lawyer starting my practice. We fondly remember meals at 
their home and how they cared for us and our children as I was first 
running for Senate.
  Tim loved Vermont and was committed to making a difference, both in 
Brattleboro and statewide. He set an example for the importance of 
public service, serving in positions as humble as town moderator, to 
those as important as speaker of the Vermont State House. He served as 
a Democrat in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1969 to 1981. 
Throughout his career, Tim embodied bipartisanship above all else, 
reaching across the aisle to put Vermonters first. In what surely 
sounds like a fairytale in this hyperpartisan era, when Tim served as 
speaker of the house, Republicans controlled the chamber.
  The only thing that Tim loved more than our State was his family. 
Marcelle and I have them in our hearts, and our prayers go out to 
Martha, Kerry, Kate, and Kevin. I called Martha to tell her how I will 
miss him, but that I will look, every day, at the walking stick Tim 
brought me from Ireland.
  I ask unanimous consent that Bob Audette's article in the Brattleboro 
Reformer be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

[[Page S499]]

  


             [From the Brattleboro Reformer, Jan. 17, 2018]

             Vermont Mourns the Death of ``A Gentle Soul''

                            (By Bob Audette)

       Brattleboro, VT.--By all accounts, Timothy J. O'Connor Jr. 
     was kind, fair, amicable, no-nonsense, intelligent and witty.
       The list of adjectives does not end there, but suffice it 
     to say, Brattleboro, Windham County and Vermont are all the 
     better because of O'Connor, who died Tuesday afternoon at the 
     age of 81 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, 
     N.H.
       Perhaps the most succinct description came from O'Connor 
     himself in a 2010 interview with the Reformer, describing his 
     three-term tenure as Speaker of the House in Montpelier: ``It 
     was a job where you were like the traffic cop at the downtown 
     Main Street circle, trying to get five lanes of cars to move 
     and go with some order, trying to get people to basically 
     compromise on certain positions in order to get legislation 
     passed.''
       That interview was conducted after the House of 
     Representatives presented a resolution honoring O'Connor. 
     ``It is a way to honor Tim's work in the past and to thank 
     him for his continued work in our community, where he is 
     valued for his expertise, sharp wit and humor,'' said former 
     legislator Sarah Edwards at the time the resolution was 
     sponsored.


                       a role model and a mentor

       O'Connor, who was born in Brattleboro on Dec. 13, 1936, 
     served as a Democrat in the Vermont House of Representatives 
     from 1969 to 1981. He was chairman of the House Judiciary 
     Committee from 1973 to 1975 and served as Speaker of the 
     House from 1975 to 1981. In 1980, he launched an unsuccessful 
     bid for the governor's office.
       Before his career as a politician, O'Connor graduated from 
     St. Michael High School in Brattleboro in 1954 and then the 
     College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. After he 
     graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 
     Washington, D.C., in 1961, he attended President John F. 
     Kennedy's inauguration. He married Martha Elizabeth Hannum of 
     Putney on July 8, 1961, and in 2017 they celebrated their 
     56th wedding anniversary.
       He began his legal career in the law offices of Edward A. 
     John, at the age of 25. O'Connor practiced law until his 2011 
     retirement, though he served as Town Meeting Moderator 
     through 2012.
       ``He's been a role model and mentor for all of us, and the 
     profession is going to be less for his leaving,'' Theodore 
     Kramer, of Kramer Law Offices in Brattleboro, told the 
     Reformer in 2011. ``Timmy really is one of a kind. He's an 
     exceptional attorney and just a spectacular, quality guy, 
     very reliable and professional.''
       ``Tim was like a father to me and very much like my own 
     father,'' Brattleboro attorney Jeffrey G. Morse told the 
     Reformer on Wednesday. Morse learned from O'Connor when 
     starting his own law career. ``We have lost a truly great 
     man.''


                    impeccable loyalty and integrity

       ``We need more Timmy O'Connors today more than ever,'' said 
     Peter Shumlin, who served as governor of Vermont for three 
     terms. ``He couldn't care less who you were, what the color 
     of your skin was, your religious beliefs or your sexual 
     orientation. All he cared about was the quality of your 
     character. And you could trust him to stand behind you once 
     you became friends.''
       Shumlin noted that when O'Connor was elected Speaker of the 
     House, the Legislature was dominated by Republicans. If that 
     wasn't remarkable enough, O'Connor served three terms as 
     Speaker. ``What made Timmy such an unshakable friend and fine 
     servant to Vermont was that everybody knew his loyalty and 
     integrity were impeccable,'' said Shumlin. ``Because of that, 
     Republicans, Democrats, Independents and everybody else 
     trusted him with their own future.''
       ``Tim pulled off an impossible upset getting elected 
     Speaker in a minority house,'' former legislator Michael 
     Obuchowski told the Reformer in 2010. ``He had the ability to 
     convince people, and how he convinced them was with his Irish 
     kindness and fairness.''
       ``In his years leading the Vermont House, his unrivaled 
     ability to build consensus and find common ground earned him 
     genuine respect and support from all sides of the aisle,'' 
     stated current Speaker of the Vermont House of 
     Representatives, Mitzi Johnson, in an email to the media.
       ``Just getting elected Speaker is an amazing feat, but to 
     be elected by both parties, as a member of the minority 
     party, and for more than one session, is unheard of,'' said 
     Mike Mrowicki, who represents Putney, Dummerston and 
     Westminster in the Vermont House. ``He was an amazing public 
     servant and a coalition builder.''
       But, noted Mrowicki, O'Connor's interest in people went 
     beyond consensus building. ``Tim was always eager to hear how 
     you were doing and wanted to know if he could help in any 
     way.''


                        a listener, not a talker

       U.S. Rep. Peter Welch told the Reformer that O'Connor and 
     John Carnahan were the first two people he met when he moved 
     to Vermont in 1974 to pursue a legal career. Being elected 
     the Speaker of the House while a member of the minority party 
     was a result of O'Connor's personality, his decency and his 
     civility, said Welch. ``He embodied an ethic in Vermont that 
     you work together with people of opposing parties to get 
     things done.''
       Welch said that during his career in politics he has tried 
     to emulate O'Connor and Bob Gannett, who represented 
     Brattleboro and Windham County in the Vermont State House for 
     more than 25 years.
       ``They inspired me to focus on the issues, find common 
     ground, not to get personal and be open and generous with 
     your colleagues,'' said Welch. ``It was effortless with Tim. 
     He is truly one of the giants of Vermont politics.''
       What also made him unique among politicians, said Welch, 
     was that O'Connor was a listener and not a talker. ``Unless 
     you got him on the topic of Ireland, and then you couldn't 
     get him to shut up.''
       ``Tim had such a great sense of humor, especially when it 
     involved the Irish,'' said U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy. ``I will 
     miss him but I'll look, every day, at the walking stick he 
     brought me from Ireland.''


                            a proud Irishman

       O'Connor was a member of what Fran Lynggaard Hansen 
     described in her book, ``Brattleboro: Historically 
     Speaking,'' as the Irish on Elliot Street.
       According to Hansen's retelling, O'Connor's grandparents, 
     Timothy Patrick O'Connor and his wife, Hannah Daly O'Connor, 
     came independently from County Kerry in Ireland. They met in 
     Norwich, Conn., later moving to Bellows Falls where relatives 
     found them jobs in a local paper mill. Eventually, the couple 
     moved to Putney, where they raised two boys and two girls. 
     Later, the family moved to Brattleboro. O'Connor's 
     grandfather died in an industrial accident in 1915, according 
     to the story he told to Hansen, and his grandmother later 
     died of tuberculosis. ``Richard and Hanna Hasey took my 
     father in and raised him as their own since he was the 
     youngest and they didn't want him to go to an orphanage,'' 
     O'Connor told Hansen. The senior Timothy O'Connor went to the 
     Bentley School of accounting and finance in Boston and worked 
     for Barrows Coal Company for 48 years, according to 
     ``Brattleboro: Historically Speaking.''
       ``Tim was a wealth of knowledge about our town and its 
     characters past and present,'' wrote Hansen on the Reformer's 
     Facebook page. ``More than that, he was a gentle soul; a kind 
     man who quietly helped so many people. The weight of his life 
     will be felt in Brattleboro for a very long time.''


                   A MAN IN SERVICE TO HIS COMMUNITY

       ``Tim O'Connor understood, and in many ways embodied, what 
     it meant to serve his community and his state,'' said U.S. 
     Sen. Bernie Sanders. ``Moreover, in this era of increasing 
     political divisiveness, Tim serves as a model for bringing 
     people together.''
       As Town Meeting Moderator for Brattleboro for more than two 
     decades, his reputation for his enthusiastic use of his gavel 
     to rein in the meanderings of Town Meeting Representatives 
     frustrated some people, but always brought a chuckle to many 
     more.
       ``There were many memorable Town Meetings that Tim 
     moderated,'' wrote Fred Noyes, who recorded a number of 
     Representative Town Meetings for BCTV. ``I would sometimes 
     say that he was the grandpa of our town.''
       ``I've seen my share of Town Meeting moderators over the 
     years, in Brattleboro and beyond,'' wrote Mary H. White, of 
     Brattleboro. ``Tim was the best, by far.''
       ``Tim O'Connor was a kind, caring, funny, wise, and 
     generous person who gave decades of tireless public service 
     to Brattleboro and all of Vermont,'' said Brattleboro Town 
     Manager Peter Elwell. ``We will miss him terribly, but will 
     always be grateful for who he was and how he lived.''
       Becca Balint, the current president of the Vermont Senate, 
     said O'Connor was very supportive of her in pursuing a career 
     in politics. ``I greatly respected his advice and perspective 
     on working in the Legislature, and I'm so grateful that he 
     saw and nurtured my leadership qualities. Tim O'Connor is 
     known in the State House as a man who cherished and modeled 
     civility and collegiality. He brought his heart to his work, 
     and in doing so he positively impacted so many legislators 
     and constituents.''
       ``Speaker O'Connor had the reputation of a true public 
     servant--a reputation he earned through his unique ability to 
     achieve consensus and compromise,'' said Gov. Phil Scott. 
     ``His years of leadership have made a lasting mark, and his 
     positive impact on Vermont will not soon be forgotten.''


                             FOREVER LOYAL

       Shumlin said when he volunteered to work for Tom Salmon's 
     campaign for governor in the early 1970s, ``Timmy took me 
     under his wing, he tutored me, taught me, cared for me and 
     kept me out of trouble. I was forever loyal to him after 
     that.''
       If more politicians were like O'Connor, said Shumlin, ``We 
     wouldn't be in the mess we are in now.''
       During a recent visit to O'Connor, Shumlin said his mentor 
     was incredulous over the adversarial atmosphere in 
     Washington, D.C.
       ``He said, `I never thought I would live to see the day 
     when division and name-calling would come from the President 
     of the United States of America. It's just so 
     discouraging.'''
       Such a comment from O'Connor was very rare, said Shumlin. 
     ``Tim was a person who rarely spoke ill of anybody. He had a 
     heart of gold and would fight for folks without a voice. 
     That, combined with his impeccable integrity, made him one of 
     the great leaders of our time.''

[[Page S500]]

       Jim Douglas, who preceded Shumlin as governor, agreed.
       ``At a time when rancor has permeated our political process 
     and collegiality seems to have disappeared from the public 
     square, Tim O'Connor stands as a glorious example of what a 
     public servant should be,'' said Douglas. ``We need more like 
     him today.''
       Douglas, a Republican who served as House Majority Leader, 
     also recalled his time working with O'Connor, whom he 
     described as ``a tremendous leader.''
       Like others who served with O'Connor, Douglas said he was 
     fair and impartial and that he cared about each legislator, 
     regardless of party affiliation, and displayed a genuine 
     nonpartisanship that earned the respect of all of his 
     colleagues.
       ``I had the temerity to challenge his re-election as 
     Speaker in 1979,'' said Douglas, who would later serve three 
     terms as Vermont's governor. ``He defeated me handily, but 
     there were no hard feelings: he promptly re-appointed me to 
     chair a committee.''
       James Valente, of Costello, Valente & Gentry in 
     Brattleboro, said everyone should try ``to be a little more 
     like Tim in our daily lives. He could teach without 
     lecturing, argue without fighting, and make you laugh without 
     teasing,''
       A funeral Mass is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at St. 
     Michael Catholic Church in Brattleboro, with arrangements 
     organized by Atamaniuk Funeral Home.
       The family requests no flowers. Contributions may be made 
     to the St. Brigid's Kitchen renovation fund in care of St. 
     Michael Catholic Church, 47 Walnut St., Brattleboro, VT 
     05301.
       Survivors include his wife; a son, Kevin O'Connor of 
     Brattleboro; two daughters, Kate O'Connor of Brattleboro and 
     Kerry (Robert) Amidon of Vernon; three grandchildren, Daniel, 
     David and Jacob Amidon of Vernon; and a brother, W. Brian 
     O'Connor of Amherst, Mass.
       ``Tim lived his life with a commitment to making a 
     difference, and he did--in his community and in our state,'' 
     said Leahy. ``He set an example for the importance of public 
     service, from serving as Town Moderator, to Speaker of the 
     House. Tim did so in the Vermont tradition of bipartisan 
     leadership and putting people first. Tim's ability and 
     efforts to reach across the aisle and to lead in ways that 
     fostered bipartisan cooperation will long be remembered and 
     are an example to all.''

                          ____________________