loved watching his harness pacer Caramore run throughout the Northeast.

He won the big race the last day they ever held live harness racing at Hinsdale in NH.

We have only been a member of St. Roberts for five years, though Father O'Connor made me feel as if I've been here forever. He'd talk to me like I was just one the "regulars". We lived across the street from him and he would drive by and want to know "what's going with the neighbors"? His sense of humor and wit will be missed.

I love Father O'Connor. I will miss him terribly, but know that he is with our Lord, happy and at peace. He was a man who really cared for us, a true shepherd. Thank you God for giving us Father O'Connor. I know he is with you Lord looking down from heaven at his family of St. Roberts. He will remain in my heart until we meet again. We are all sad for our loss, but happy because we know Father O'Connor is with our Lord.

To Cousins Eileen, Canon Michael, and all, My wife Mary, daughter Margaret, and I expend our deepest condolences on the passing over of Father and brother Thomas. Meeting you and Fr. Tom at his golden jubilee in Freehold is a memory I will cherish always. It was with great pride that I shared Fr. Tom's obituary with many of my closest friends. He lived a fine life in service to others and our Lord above. I pray that Fr. Tom and my mother Noreen share in the light of His presence at the earliest possible moment. Warmest Regards, Michael, Mary and Margaret 776 Three Wood Lane Woodruff, South Carolina 29388 (864) 476-6202

We were truly blessed to have Father O'Connor as pastor at St. Robert's. We will always remember him for his strong leadership, his sense of humor and his love for the children of our parish. May he rest in peace.

Father O'Connor was a wonderful Priest and pastor.He always cared about people and would do everything in his power to help anyone.He was very down to earth and extremely easy to talk to.I will miss his dry humor and smile and especially hearing about his childhood and friends in Ireland, during his homilies.There will never be another like him.May he rest in peace.We WILL miss him.

Fr. Tom You are a great man, and did so much for the church and for me personally. You were there with me when I was first baptized, and we established such a great friendship. You are not only a pastor to me, but a friend, a leader, and a role model. And from this day, I will never forget you, telling the people during the last mass that you said, that I finally can sing through my stomach and not through my nose! I love you, and God Bless

To The O'Connor Family, Thanks for sharing Fr.Tom with us. He will be missed. Therese Flanagan & Sons

Father O'Connor, We will miss your wonderful, kind way, your smile, your Irish wit and your stories. You were a gentle, good spirit. God bless you in heaven.

It has been our honor. Godspeed Fr. O'Connor. Up Kerry!!!!

Father, you have done so much for the parish. I want to especially thank you for also helping me in my time of dire need as well. You will be greatly missed.

Father Michael and family, our thoughts & prayers are with you always. Father Tom was an excellent priest but above all he was an amazing friend to my family and me. We are forever grateful for the blessing of his friendship. We hold all the memories since our early years in Shrone very close to our heart. May God bless him always! Your friend, Johnny Moynihan

Fr. O'Connor, you will be missed! It is with deep sadness that we mourn your passing, because it was our privilege to have you as our pastor at St. Robert's. Your dry wit was greatly appreciated by this fellow Irishman, as was your obvious concern for the children of the parish. May you rest in peace.

Your smile and sense of humor have always brightened our days. Your friendship and spiritual guidance was a blessing that we will cherish always. Our hearts are saddened by your passing.

We will truly miss Father Tom. Our fondest memory of him is the day he baptized our granddaughter. In true Father O'Connor fashion, he used a bright orange plastic jug to pour the holy water over over the infants heads. We will miss his "wit" and his "sly" smile when he was joking with you. His greatest accomplishment was building our beautiful church. His enthusiasm infected every one. May God enjoy him as much as we did.

Our prays will be with you always.

Fr. O'Connor has been the ultimate shepherd to all of us at St. Robert's. Our three sons grew up as altar servers for him, and he holds a special place in their hearts. We know he is where he is meant to be, in the arms of the Lord, but we at St. Robert's will miss him greatly - his wry sense of humor, his twinkle, his stewardship. We have learned so much about Christian living from this man!

Father Tom, You welcomed our family to your parish family fifteen years ago. You gave both our girls the Sacraments of Penance and First Holy Communion. You built those beautiful classrooms so we didn't have to drive over to St. Rose and you built us the most beautiful church. I know you will be missed and may God Bless You for all the wonderful works you have done in his name.

It was graduation day at FTHS, the idea of the future was making my mind race when I heard a familiar voice that existed simultaneously as a grumble and a lilt. Father Tom was offering the blessing to the Class. This voice had both teased and wished me good warm things for 6 years - and in that moment of teenage concern about a looming future his calm and kind authority gave me back an even breath. Over the years, patients throughout hospitals and parishioners in need have had similar experiences I'm sure. This kind man who powered his way into hearts will be missed deeply - St Robert's was lucky and blessed for 20 years with his time and energy.

WE WERE TRAITORS TO ST ALOYSIUS PARISH AS A RESULT OF YOUR IRISH WIT DURING YOU SERMONS AT MASS ON SUNDAY AND STORIES OF THE OLD COUNTRY. WE WILL MISS YOU GREATLY BUT WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR PRAYERS

Father O'Connor will always have a special place in our hearts. The best testimony we can give to the impact he made in our lives is to continue to carry his message, the message of Jesus, to all that we meet. Father, you made a difference to us. God bless you. Rest in peace. The Filipek Family

Father O'Connor, We thank God for the gift to have you be part of our lives. We will miss you and will forever remember your kindness and support to our family. May our God grant you eternal rest and peace.

our hearts go out to the O'Connor family.Fr.O'Connor will surely be missed.I will never forget his sense of humor.He married my husband and i almost 10 years ago,and baptised my first born,Fr.O'Connor will always hold a special place in mine and my family's hearts.

Father Tom will be sorely missed by our family. He baptized our three kids now 17, 14 and 7. His sense of humor was legendary, although it was hard to figure out sometimes if he was joking or not:). God Bless you Father, and your family. All our love and prayers - The Skinner Family. St Roberts Parishioners since 1990.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Fr. O'Connor. We have been parishioners of St. Robert Bellarmine for about fourteen years. We will certainly miss his presence, leadership, humor and commitment to our parish family. He leaves behind a beautiful Church for us to remember him by. The Parish will not be the same without him. With deepest sympathy, The Patti and DiFelice Family

Fr. O'Connor, you have been with us over many years as our family has changed and grown. Your support, humor and love have been special gifts that we will always treasure. Thank you for your spiritual example and your dedication to our church. God truly made you special as there can be no one like you. We love you and will miss you dearly.

We are very sorry to hear of the passing of Fr. Tom. He was a very good hearted person who had a great sense of humor. He served the people of St. Roberts for many years and was the longest lasting pastor there. We both remember how faithful he was to our family in both good times and in bad. Our heartfelt condolences to his family. We know he is now in a better place although we will miss him. We hope all the good things he did will live on after him. Sincerely, Carol and Tom Luchento and the Luchento Family

The Fisette family has been blessed by having Father Tom as our pastor through the years. He was a wonderful parish priest and wonderful for St. Robert's. We all will miss him. May God grant him eternal rest and let perpetual light shine upon him and may his soul rest in peace. Amen

My thoughts and prayers are with you during this time of loss. I will keep Fr. Tom remembered in my prayers. May he be at peace with the Lord.

I've known Father O'Connor since he was a young priest in Metuchen over 40 years ago. I often told stories about him while I was growing up. Not thinking that our paths would ever again cross, it was much to my surprise when Father came to St. Robert's as pastor. Over these years I have come to know and respect him. I'll always remember him for his Irish wit, his wisdom, his convection, and compassion. May Irish angels carry you to heaven's gate And may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Dear Fr. Michael O'Connor, I lived with Fr. Tom almost eighteen years. With no other priest I lived as long. I have fond memories of Fr. Tom and I cherish those memories. Cordially yours, Fr. Mathew Adackapara

Our prayers are with you as you have gone home to be with our creator. You will always be remembered in our hearts, especially your special sense of humor, and mostly your long dedication to our parish home. Condolences to the family at this sad occasion. With love from the Payne Family.

Message to the Family, We thank Fr. O'Connor for all his knowledge and help in the building of the classrooms for our religious education program and for St. Robert's beautiful church. You have left us with many memories and you will be missed.We're sure God welcomed you into Heaven with opened arms.

Message to the Family, We thank Fr. O'Connor for all his hard work in getting the ball rolling in the building of the classrooms attached to our "old" church and his perseverance

We had the great pleasure of meeting and having Fr. O'Connor as our priest for over ten years. He was always very kind and loving towards the children. We will miss him very much. He will always remain in our prayers.

To the family of Mr. O'Connor: I wanted to offer my deepest condolences to the family at this time, and also share a wonderful hope that you probaly already know about at Revelation chapter twenty one verses three and four. And when you get a chance please read it chance, and may the God of all comfort be with your family at this time. My Deepest Condolences, JoAnne

Father O'Connor, You have been in our thoughts and prayers these past few months and we will continue to hold you in our hearts. Whenever we look around the church we will see you, remembering how wonderful you were to us when we needed your help. We will miss you and all of your stories..wishing you God's peace.

Father O'Connor has been such a blessing to our family, through the good and tough times and will be missed terribly by us all. He will always be held closely in our hearts. Rest peacefully in God's arms, Father O'Connor.

We will miss you terribly. We will miss your Irish wit and your kindness when Vincent became an altar boy at 7 and all your prayers for Vincent Sr during his cancer treatments and current illness. Thank you for letting Fr Tom be with us for as long as you did.

It is with great thanks to God for blessing us with Father O'Connor. We will miss his sense of humor and dedication to our parish. He inspired so many including myself. May the road rise up to meet him in heaven and the winds blow softly upon him.

We were proud to know Father Tom, we enjoyed his sense of humor and the quick smile he had whenever we spoke. We will miss him.

Father Tom is a part of our family, we will miss him terribly, thank you for sharing him with us. Our hearts go out to you all.. with love, Margie, Stephen, Tim, Ryan

Father O'Connor, you have done so much for our Parish and you were the pillar and spiritual guide to us all. We will miss you. We will miss your dry sense of humor and quick wit. May our Lord welcome you in Heaven with open arms, along with the ever Virgin Mary, all the angels and saints.

Father Tom, I am forever grateful that I was able to see you say Mass one last time a few months ago. You were a symbol of strength and hope for all of us. I will miss your sense of humor and engaging personality. I feel lucky to have been an altar server with you for so many years, especially at the dedication of the new church. You did so much for the parish. May God keep you in His love and care eternally. Until we meet again, Kate Fogler

We will always hold precious in our hearts the memory of our welcoming to St. Robert's 19 years ago. We had truly "come home" to our parish. You have left your impact on our family in a way that we carry with us each day. Thank you for your influence on our children, your ability to be honest and true to your parishioners, and your unique presence at St. Robert's!!! Our beautiful parish home is a testament to your ministry. You will forever be missed and your memory cherished. We as a family and a parish remain "in it together" because of you. Rest in peace, Fr. O. You will forever remain in our hearts. because of you. Rest in peace, Fr. O. You will forever remain in our hearts!!!

Father O'Connor, moving to Freehold in 2004 and meeting you for the first time for 1hr in the parish office, I knew you were special. Your kind words when I had mentioned the loss of my husband after only living here 3 months, gave me courage. You shared bits of stories with me, especially the Jimmy Durante one.realizing my last name was Durante. Thank you for your time and for making me laugh. I know you are doing this in heaven already. God Bless you Forever. You will be missed, your friend among many others Vi Durante