The Rev. Joseph O'Connor, Augustinian priest

The Rev. Joseph Xavier O'Connor, 89, of the St. Thomas of Villanova Monastery, died Monday, June 19, of heart failure at Bryn Mawr Hospital after a life of service to the Augustinian Order.

"He was by nature humorous," said the Rev. Tom Dwyer, who served with Father O'Connor.

Father O'Connor, a native of Lawrence, Mass., was born May 26, 1928, to John E. and Elizabeth O'Connor. He attended St. Laurence O'Toole Parish School and Central Catholic High School in Lawrence. After high school, he was accepted as a postulant to the Augustinian Academy in Staten Island, N.Y., and was accepted into the order in September 1946. Father O'Connor professed his first vows of the Augustinian Order on Sept. 10, 1947.

After receiving a philosophy degree from Villanova College (now University), he attended Augustinian College in Washington, then received a master's degree in religious education from the Catholic University of America. He professed solemn vows on Sept. 10, 1950, officially committing himself to the order. Three years later he was ordained to priesthood at Augustinian College.

His vocation took him around the world. Father O'Connor was first assigned to the St. John of Sahagun Friary and Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, where he taught for four years. In 1958, he left for Japan to volunteer at a recently founded mission there. He spent two years at the Japanese Language School in Tokyo, then ministered to the Nagasaki parish for three years.

In 1963, Father O'Connor was assigned to the mission parish in Fukuoka, Japan, where he served as pastor and superior.  Dwyer, who served for five years alongside Father O'Connor in Fukuoka, said he was the principal of the kindergarten and made efforts to engage with the community. Father O'Connor also ran a youth club for Japanese college students, hosting movies, meals, and discussions.

While in Japan, Father O'Connor was the novice master for the Rev. Minoru Joseph Akakura, the first Japanese man to become a priest in more than three centuries, ordained by Pope John Paul II in Nagasaki in 1981.

Father O'Connor left Japan in 1974. "He had done the work he wanted to do in Japan," Dwyer said. He returned to Lawrence, then was assigned to parishes in Florida, New York, and New Jersey before returning to Massachusetts.

Father O'Connor is survived by sisters Rita and Sister Elizabeth.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 23, at St. Mary's Church, 300 Haverhill St., Lawrence, preceded by visitation at 9:30.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Augustinian Fund, Care of Sick and Elderly, c/o Provincial Offices, 214 Ashwood Rd., Villanova, Pa.