John F. O'Hara

John Francis O’Hara, Jr - born June 8, 1948, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the third of ten children born to John Francis O’Hara, Sr and Mary Catherine (McDonald) O’Hara, was called to reap his Heavenly reward on Sunday, November 10, 2024.

He is preceded in death by his parents, paternal grandparents Michael and Catherine (Murray) O’Hara, maternal grandparents Miles and Mary (Schoenborn) McDonald, sister Eileen Lang, brother Emmett O’Hara, sisters-in-law Sharon (DeGraff) O’Hara and Darcey (Chickering) O’Hara, and beloved nephew Michael Corwin O’Hara.

John was a generous man, both a devout servant to God and to his country, having served in the United States Navy.  He will be remembered for being an upstanding Christian, quick-witted Irishman, loving father, grandfather, brother, neighbor and friend.  As clever as he was kind, he was always working on new inventive projects in his free time.  John was an avid outdoorsman, lifelong deer hunter, and was the State Champion in Archery in his youth. The Detroit Lions and the University of Michigan were his favorite teams, but he warmed up to Michigan State and Notre Dame when his granddaughters chose to go to college there, which made him immensely proud.  He was a man of profound conviction, the likes of which could only be forged through his strength of character and –fondly remembered– stubbornness. But most importantly he was generous and mindful of all he had to be grateful for.  If you ask any of his many nieces and nephews to tell you a story about “Uncle Johnny” it would have something to do with him giving them candy.  Neighbors and brothers would often find that he had been there to mow their lawn, clean up their leaves or plow their driveway, never accepting anything in return.  It was John’s weekly ritual to place a twenty-dollar bill in a coffee can every Sunday, which he called his “church money”.  Whenever someone was in need, he’d gladly dip into the can and hand it over, only asking that the taker, “do good with it and thank Jesus”.

Professionally, John was a member of the Steamfitters Union for many years before becoming Maintenance Superintendent at American Seating Company in Grand Rapids, where he had many friends.  Later in life John went to work for the State of Michigan Department of Corrections as the Physical Plant Superintendent at Newberry Correctional Facility, eventually retiring from the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee. 

He is survived by his daughter Erin (Gregory) Patrick of Rockford, MI, and son Shawn O’Hara of Sand Lake, MI; grandsons Jesse Mills, Thomas O’Hara, Ryan O’Hara and Connell O’Hara; granddaughters Callahan Patrick, Quinn Patrick, Aubree Patrick and Miley Patrick; sister Kathleen (Peter) Crame; brothers Miles O’Hara, Mickel (Sue) O’Hara, Dennis (Patricia) O’Hara, Patrick (Tina) O’Hara, Tim (Michelle) O’Hara and Brian (Mikki) O’Hara; sister-in-law Cheng O’Hara; brother-in-law Robert Lang; as well as countless cousins, nieces and nephews; and many friends, the closest being Mark Wheeler, George Sullivan and Scott Szapa.

In his Last Will and Testament John wrote, “My expectation is to spend eternity in Heaven.  I have one request of my family and friends, to be all believers in God and get properly baptized by getting immersed in water as Jesus directed.  I firmly believe this is the most important thing I can leave behind”.

Family and friends are invited to gather in remembrance of John Francis O’Hara, Jr. on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at the Rockford Ambulance Community Room, 8450 Shaner Ave, Rockford, MI 49341 from 2:00PM to 4:00PM.

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