Ireland

Cork chef who died on 40th birthday climbing Mount Kilimanjaro remembered as ‘happiest man alive’

James O’Connor was 100m away from summit when he suffered heart attack

James O'Connor on Mount Kilimanjaro

Olivia Kelleher
Fri Dec 15 2023 - 12:53

A father-of-three who died on his 40th birthday while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania has been remembered at his funeral mass as a loving father, son and friend with a “zest for life”.

James O’Connor, from Whitechurch in Co Cork, was 100m away from the summit when he suffered a heart attack on December 5th.

His wife Grace told mourners at St Patrick’s Church in Whitechurch that she had shared an amazing life with James who worked as a chef in Tony’s Bistro in Cork city.

“He was the love of my life. I first met James hanging out in coffee shops with friends. I thought he was so funny and kind. But he was nervous. I had to ask him out.

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“Of course he said ‘yes.’ He told me afterwards that he got down on his knees and thanked God [that I had asked him out]. I always used to slag him over it.

“He put up with all of my ‘crazy’ and showed me love. We were crazy in love from day one.’

Grace said that James loved being a father.

“He was the happiest man alive. He spent his days rushing home from work to us,” she said.

Grace said that their children really enjoyed her husband’s days off and ‘lived” for his cooking.

“We are all going to have to live on takeaway now! All he wanted to do was to make the people around him happy. He was so committed to us his family, his siblings, nieces and nephews even his in laws. The love he gave us was unconditional. He healed us and made everything better.”

Close to €39,000 has been raised via a GoFund Me page set up to pay for James’s repatriation costs.

His friend, Regina Kennedy, said that James could never have imagined that his journey to Mount Kilimanjaro was going to be his last trip.

She said that James, who lived in Dooradoyle in Limerick, “exuded positivity” and was a “wonderful husband” and a “super father”.

Mr O’Connor is survived by his wife and children, his siblings Jonathan, Lorraine, Caitríona, Michelle and Jordan. He is predeceased by his parents Kathleen and John.

His family say that James died “peacefully, while watching the sunrise on his birthday on Mount Kilimanjaro”.

“He will be forever missed and loved by his heartbroken wife and children, parents in law, brothers in law, sisters in law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends,” they said.

Following the requiem mass James was laid to rest at St Catherine’s Cemetery in Kilcully, Co Cork.

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