Retired Fox C-6 School District administrator Gerald "Jerry" O’Connor died on Tuesday, Oct. 22. He was 87.
Christine Simokaitis, one of O’Connor’s children, said her father died from complications after he had surgery due to a hip fracture following a recent fall.
“He was such a pillar in our lives and the community,” she said. “He was extremely loyal and dedicated to his family and the school. He loved the boys who played football for him, as well as the students and teachers who he worked with.”
O’Connor, who lived in Arnold, worked for the Fox district from 1960 to 1996, spending most of his time at Fox High.
From 1960 to 1970, he was a math and physical education teacher, while also serving as the head coach for the football and baseball teams and as an assistant basketball coach. In 1966, he led Fox High to its first undefeated football season.
O’Connor was promoted to an administrative role in 1970, becoming the athletic director and an assistant principal. He served in those roles, while continuing as the head football coach, until 1975.
He then became Fox High’s principal until 1989, when he was named the assistant superintendent of secondary education.
The Board of Education named Fox High’s athletic stadium after O’Connor in 1997, and he was inducted into the school’s sports hall of fame in 2005.
O’Connor was inducted into the Fox High School Alumni and Staff Hall of Fame on Oct. 19. The alumni and staff hall was established in 2023 to honor staff members who worked at the school for at least 15 years and students who had graduated at least 10 years prior to induction in 2023.
Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until funeral services at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at John L. Ziegenhein & Sons South County Chapel, 4830 Lemay Ferry Road, in south St. Louis County.
Memorial donations may be made to purchase a new “Jerry O’Connor Athletic Field” sign or to help fund the Fox Scholarship Fund. Checks may be made out to Fox High School in memory of Jerry O'Connor and sent to the attention of Joe Salsman, Fox High School, 751 Jeffco Blvd., Arnold, 63010.
For more information about O’Connor, look for a story in the Oct. 31 Arnold-Imperial Leader.