Kevin John O'Neill

Kevin J. O’Neill of College Station passed away on Monday, June 24^th after a brief hospitalization.

He was known around town, and around the world, as a man who was deeply faithful, generous, funny, disciplined, and a life-long learner who loved to travel. The full extent of the impact Kevin had on the lives of so many is becoming clear to his family with his passing.

Kevin maintained that his life would have been incomplete without the Catholic Church. He knew he was a child of God, and his most authentic vocation was as husband to his wife Anne, father to their four children, and grandfather to their six grandchildren. He called himself a practicing Catholic because, he said, he was still practicing to be a good Catholic. He answered the call to serve in a variety of roles and ministries in parishes around the world where he and Anne were posted by the Army. He loved seeing the fruits of these labors, such as serving meals to some of the nearly 1 million young people in Cologne, Germany for the week-long celebration of 2005 World Youth Day, and as a member of the building committee at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in College Station where he helped realize new structures where students can worship God and spread the Good News.

Kevin was cheerfully generous with his time, talents and treasures outside of the Church as well. He may have bemoaned the many activities his kids “volunteered” him for when they were young, but long after they were out of the house, Kevin led a full life humbly helping others achieve extraordinary things. He had a soft spot in his heart for the vulnerable. It led him to serve as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) with Voices for Children for 14 years, Safe Harbor in Bryan, and St. Vincent de Paul Society, among others. They joined two medical missions to Guatemala. Anne went as a nurse, Kevin went as a gofer (“go fer this, go fer that”, he quipped). They thoroughly enjoyed these missions, the people of Guatemala, and sharing it with family members who accompanied them.

Kevin had a vast collection of clean jokes and loved to share them with anyone who would listen.  “Stop me if you’ve heard this one”, he’d say, though no one ever did because of his obvious delight in telling it again.  He would walk across the street or a restaurant to tell a bald man “I like your haircut” and rub his hand across his own bald head with a grin.

Kevin was born an Army BRAT (if you are one, you know what that means. If you’re not, trust that Kevin wore the label proudly, as do their children). Whether his sense of duty and self-discipline came from nature or nurture is unclear. What is evident is that it was an integral part of his personal, professional, and spiritual character. It led Kevin to enter the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, from which he was commissioned in 1959 as a Second Lieutenant in the Artillery. During his 30-year career, he attended Artillery, Airborne, and Ranger courses, the Armed Forces Staff College and the Army War College, as well as German and Portuguese language courses at the Defense Language Institute; commanded at levels from detachment thru battalion, served in five U.S. Army divisions (7^th, 9^th, 25^th, 82^nd Airborne, and 101^st Airborne), taught German at West Point; and was posted to five foreign countries, including Turkey, Germany, Vietnam, Portugal and Japan. He went where his Nation called him and served with honor, distinction, and a willing heart.

During his father’s military posting to Heidelberg, Germany in the early 1950s Kevin first met Anne Parsons. Years later, they were reunited and were married in 1960. They began writing many chapters of “Anne and Kevin’s Great Adventure.” The family accompanied Kevin on many of the overseas military assignments (where permitted) and they took full advantage to immerse themselves in the language, food, culture and, mostly, the people they encountered along the way. After retirement, their wanderlust persisted, and they were frequent visitors in far-flung corners of the world, always with a sense of wonder and appreciation for the new friends they found.  Portugal was a perennial favorite, and Kevin often served as unofficial tour guide for many friends and family who visited the beautiful country.

Many knew Kevin as an avid learner. Beyond his military education, he earned master’s degrees in German from Middlebury College and in Public Administration from Texas A&M University. His desire to contribute to the vulnerable led him to become a Special Ed teacher for five years in Bremond and, in 2004, earn a PhD in Educational Psychology (Special Education) from A&M. He was delighted to “pay it forward” by sharing his experiences and knowledge with aspiring Special Ed teachers during their student teaching semester.

Kevin was preceded in death by his parents, an infant son, and his youngest sister Bonnie. He is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Anne Parsons O’Neill; daughter Cynthia and husband Len Smith of College Station; daughter Kelly O’Neill of Dallas; daughter Karen and husband Joe Seago of Bryan; son Kevin Jr. and wife Susan O’Neill of Bryan; brother Brian O’Neill of Tucson, AZ; sister Judy O’Neill of New York City; grandchildren Nathan, Benjamin, Samuel, and Molly Seago, and Kristin and Austin O’Neill; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Donald and Frances Parsons of Bryan; and numerous in-laws, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

In lieu of flowers Kevin asked that, if you insist on doing something, memorials be made to the Anne P. and Kevin J. O’Neill Fund at The Aggieland Catholic Foundation, Inc. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 603 Church Avenue, College Station, TX 77840.