Joseph E. O'Connell was an American businessman and racehorse owner. Two of his horses,

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

and

Celtic Ash Celtic Ash (1957–1978) was an English-bred Thoroughbred racehorse raised in Ireland who is best known for winning the 1960 Belmont Stakes. Background Celtic Ash was a bay horse bred by Lord Harrington. He was out of the mare Ash Plant and sire ...

, won the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

Early business career

O'Connell graduated from the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

in 1910 and went to work for the bond department of Lee, Higginson & Co. He remained with the company for five years before leaving to become the assistant to the president at the International Trust Company.

Military service

O'Connell, a member of the 9th Regiment of the

Massachusetts National Guard The Massachusetts National Guard is the National Guard component for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded as the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia on December 13, 1636, it contains the oldest units in the United States Army. What is toda ...

, was sent to the Mexican border in 1916. After this, he returned to the International Trust Company. When war was declared on Germany in 1917, O'Connell enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, where he remained until after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended.

Return to business

After his discharge from the Navy, O'Connell joined Kaler, Carney, Liffler & Co, an insurance brokerage. He remained there until May 1925, when he joined National Shawmut Bank as the assistant vice president of its credit department. On January 1, 1930, he was elected vice president of the company. He also served as vice president of the Shawmut Association and the Shawmut Bank Investment Trust. On December 31, 1935, O'Connell left Shawmut to become a resident partner of Soucy, Swartswelter & Co. In addition to working for Soucy, Swartswelter & Co, O'Connell also served a president of Pilot Publishing Company and in 1939 was elected to the board of directors of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. He later served as a director of Boston Edison and the Union Savings Bank of Boston. In 1942, after Soucy & Co. had been dissolved, O'Connell formed his own stock brokerage, O'Connell & Co.

Philanthropy

O'Connell served as the treasurer of numerous

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

charities, including St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum. He was also a member of the executive committee of

St. Elizabeth's Hospital St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health. It opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for the Insane, the first federally oper ...

Horse racing

O'Connell and Irish-born trainer Thomas J. Barry purchased a number of race horses from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

during the late 1950s. The pair purchased Cavan from Irish racehorse trainer Paddy Prendergast for an undisclosed sum. In the 1958 Belmont Stakes, Cavan upset 3-20 favorite

Tim Tam Tim Tam is a brand of chocolate biscuit introduced by the Australian biscuit company Arnott's in 1964. It consists of two malted biscuits separated by a light hard chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. Hi ...

to prevent the horse from winning the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

. In 1960, O'Connell and Barry returned to the Belmont with the British-bred, Irish-raised Celtic Ash. Celtic Ash came from last place to win the race by 5 1/2 lengths, giving O'Connell a perfect 2–0 record in the race. Due to an illness, O'Connell was forced to watch the race from St. Elizabeth's Hospital. On July 7, 1960, O'Connell died at St. Elizabeth's Hospital following a four-week illness.

Personal life

A native of

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

, O'Connell resided in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

during his adult life. He was the nephew of

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

William Henry O'Connell William Henry O'Connell (December 8, 1859 – April 22, 1944) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death in 1944, and was made a cardinal in 1911. Early life William O'Connell wa ...

. O'Connell was previously married to Dorothy McGaffee, with whom he had one son and three daughters. Their son, Joseph Jr, was married to

Pat Hitchcock Patricia Alma Hitchcock O'Connell (7 July 1928 – 9 August 2021) was an English-American actress and producer, acting under the name Pat Hitchcock. She was the only child of English director Alfred Hitchcock and film editor Alma Reville, and h ...

, an actress and the daughter of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

. He was survived by his widow Dorothy O'Connell (née Weilich), and their son Mark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Joseph E 1960 deaths American bankers American businesspeople in insurance United States Navy personnel of World War I American racehorse owners and breeders American stockbrokers College of the Holy Cross alumni Massachusetts National Guard personnel People from Lowell, Massachusetts Businesspeople from Newton, Massachusetts Catholics from Massachusetts