Philip Joseph “P.J.” O’Connor
September 16, 1943 to March 13, 2026
Philip Joseph “P.J.” O’Connor passed away on March 13, 2026, at his home in Hendersonville, North Carolina, at the age of 82, following pancreatic cancer.
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Phil was raised in Lynn, where sports became an early and lasting part of his life. He played football, baseball, and basketball in his youth, graduated from Essex Aggie High School, and later attended Michigan State University, where he studied Business Management, Human Resources, and Labor Relations.
Phil built a long career in business and human resources leadership. Over the years, he held roles with General Motors, Raytheon, LTV Vought, Dee Howard Company, EADS Sogerma Services, Elbit Systems of America, M7 Aerospace, and 4M Logistics. He was widely respected in his professional life and was known for his presence, intelligence, and ability to lead.
Phil was a human being, with strengths, flaws, achievements, absences, charm, limitations, and contradictions. The people who loved him experienced all of that. He could be meaningful, disappointing, memorable, and deeply imperfect all at once. That is part of the truth of his life, and truth matters.
Outside of work, Phil loved golf, sports, and moments of family connection. Some of the memories he leaves behind are not grand or formal, but personal. The kind that stay because they were real.
Grief does not move through families in simple ways. It can be deepened by silence, distance, exclusion, and fractured bonds, especially for those already carrying heavy hearts. In the face of that reality, we choose compassion over cruelty, presence over erasure, and healing over silence. We share that not to assign blame, but to honor the importance of human connection, especially in times of loss.
This memorial is intended to reflect a fuller and more complete family record, including Jessica Sadoway, her husband Stephen Sadoway, and their children Jake Sadoway, Emily Sadoway, and Abbey Sadoway, whose names were not included in the funeral-home obituary.
Phil is survived by his wife, Barbara Fletcher-Brink; his children, Mark O’Connor, Bethlee McLaughlin, Brian O’Connor and wife Dr. Jennifer Freeman-O’Connor, Jessica Sadoway and husband Stephen Sadoway, and Kerry Stagliano and husband Marcus Stagliano; his stepdaughter, Dr. Alyson Brink and husband Dr. Jeremy Deans; and his grandchildren: Andrea Ortiz, Benjamin O’Connor, Daniel O’Connor, and Christopher O’Connor, children of Mark O’Connor; Owen McLaughlin, son of Bethlee McLaughlin; Ethan O’Connor and Zachary O’Connor, children of Brian O’Connor; Emily Sadoway, Abbey Sadoway, and Jake Sadoway, children of Jessica Sadoway; and Sara Stagliano and Ian Stagliano, children of Kerry Stagliano. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Marjorie O’Connor, and many cousins, friends, and extended family members.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Philip Joseph O’Connor Sr. and Olga Paszkowski O’Connor; his brother, Dennis S. O’Connor; his former spouse and mother of his children, Sara Sweeney O’Connor; and John Joseph “J.J.” Brink IV.
A celebration of Phil’s life will be held on at Church Street Funeral and Cremations,
125 South Church Street, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28792. Visitation will begin at 12:00 PM prior to the service.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the J.J. Brink Scholarship Fund at the Winston School of San Antonio.
Phil will be remembered as he truly was: not flattened into a perfect story, but held in memory as a man whose life was full, flawed, consequential, and deeply human.