(1930-2025)

Sister Marion O’Connor, formerly known as Sister Ellen Michael O’Connor, died on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 95 years of age and in the 76th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

Sister Marion was born in Chicago to Jeremiah and Mary (Stack) O’Connor. She graduated from Aquinas High School in Chicago and received a bachelor’s degree in history from Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian and a master’s degree in history from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Sister ministered for seven years in education in Detroit and Lansing, Michigan. She then embarked on 54 years of teaching in Chicago, Hometown, and Wilmette, Illinois, including 48 years at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, a legacy institution of the Congregation. For 37 of her years at Regina Dominican, she was also a department chair and then was senior study moderator for five years. 

Sister Marion became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in 2017. She was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by loving cousins and her Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Visitation will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in the gathering space of St. Catherine Chapel. The Vigil Prayer will be held at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in St. Catherine Chapel. A Funeral Mass will be offered in St. Catherine Chapel at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 17, 2025. Prayers of Committal will be held in the Congregation Cemetery. 

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Anderson-Marry Funeral Home, Adrian.

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

LEFT: Marion at about 6 months old. MIDDLE LEFT: 1948 graduate of Aquinas High School, Chicago. MIDDLE RIGHT: Sister Ellen Michael at her reception into the novitiate, with her parents, Jeremiah and Mary O'Connor. RIGHT: Entrance Day, 1948.

MIDDLE: Students at Aquinas High School, Chicago, during the 1947-1948 school year are, from left, Marion O’Connor (the future Sister Ellen Michael), Ann Elizabeth (the future Sister Thomas James) Burns, Sister Francis Gerald Broderick, Therese (the future Sister Thomas Frances) DeCanio, and Mary Ann Levento. RIGHT: Sister Marion with her cousin, Father Edward Fitzgerald, celebrant of the Mass celebrating Sister Marion’s Silver Jubilee. 

LEFT: Sister Marion works with a student from Regina Dominican High School. RIGHT: Members of the 2008 Diamond Jubilee Crowd are, back row, from left, Sisters Nora Brady, Marie Geraldine Brownell, Celestine Dunne, Alice Riegel, Patricia Wiley, John Norton Barrett, Mary Schmagner, and Therese DeCanio, and front row, from left, Sisters Mary Helen Mack, Joan Sopha, Mary E. Quinn, Dorothy Thielk, Margaret Urban, Patricia Ann Hurley, Marion O’Connor, and Judith Singer. 

LEFT: Enjoying time together on Marco Island, Florida, in June 2001 are, from left, Sisters Sarah Cavanaugh, Marie Bride Walsh, and Marion O’Connor. RIGHT: Sister Marion, center, with her cousins, from left, Celeste King, Brendan Hurling, Elizabeth King, and Michael Malone, attend the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Regina Dominican High School.

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