Joan Patricia Dunbar O'Connor

Joan Patricia Dunbar O’Connor, loving mother, grandmother, and friend, passed into heaven from her Brandon Wilde home September 15, 2021 at the age of 89.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at the Church of the Good Shepherd with Rev. Ted Clarkson officiating. A private interment will be held for the family.

Born to the late Cecil Billups and Mary Rowe Dunbar on June 14, 1932, Joan attended Wiliiam Robinson grammar school in Augusta before attending Tubman high school for two years. From there, she followed her sister Mary Louise and attended St. Catherine’s boarding school in Richmond, Virginia, where she graduated in 1950. Always the doting younger sister, Joan again followed Mary Louise to Vassar College and studied for two years before returning south for the warmer climate.

From a young age, Joan enjoyed playing the piano. As she grew older, she shared her talent by playing for events at St. Catherine’s School and later for The Ballet School in Augusta. In her 20’s, she went to work for the Georgia Railroad Bank and took delight in attending the many balls and social events that Augusta society had to offer. In 1959, she married Francis Fuller O’Connor (Frank) and had three children Francis Fuller O’Connor, Jr. (Fuller), Sallie Huston Dunbar O’Connor Wright, and the late Gregory Calhoun O’Connor, entered into heaven July 3, 2020.

As anyone who knew her will attest, Joan was a brilliant cook. In the 70’s, she opened her own catering business and delighted Augusta hostesses with delectable canapes and finely set tables for more than 20 years. During this time, she was also an avid tennis player and enjoyed playing weekly with friends and family at Augusta Country Club.

A lifelong member of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Joan also served on the board of Episcopal Day School for several sessions, first as the representative of the church (appointed by the late Reverend Allen Clarkson) and later as President of The Parents Association. Joan proudly initiated the first yearbook for Episcopal Day School. And years later, she enjoyed lending her time and talent as the gift buyer for the church’s Parsonage Books & Gifts.

Other interests included becoming a Life Master at Contract Bridge and memberships in the Augusta Country Club, the Sand Hills Garden Club, the Suburban Garden Club, the Junior League of Augusta, the Colonial Dames, and associate membership of the Augusta Symphony Orchestra Guild.

Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Mary Rowe and Cecil Billups Dunbar, her sister and brother-in-law, the Reverend and Dr. James and Mary Louise Carpenter, her former husband, Francis Fuller O’Connor, and her son, Gregory Calhoun O’Connor. She is survived by her son Francis Fuller O’Connor, Jr. (husband of Cynthia O’Connor), daughter Sallie O’Connor Wright (wife of Garland Richard Wright), and granddaughters Mary Virginia O’Connor and Sarah Clay Wright.

If so desired memorials may be made to the Church of the Good Shepherd, 2230 Walton Way, Augusta, GA, 30904.

The family will receive friends on Monday evening, September 20, 2021 from 5:00 until 7:00 PM at Platt’s Crawford Avenue Chapel.