Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913

Nashua Porcupines Coach Remembered

Loren John "Larry" O'Connor was born in New York City on February 12, 1911; he was later nick-named Larry and was known by that name most of his life.

Records indicate that hewas baptized as "John Francis O'Connor" on February 13th, 1911, at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Manhattan.

He was orphaned at a very early age as his mother died shortly after childbirth. His father passed away a month or two later.

When O'Connor was four -years-old he was sent west on what was commonly known at the time as an "Orphan Train" or a "Baby Train." He was fortunate that a hard working Catholic family of German descent, Frank and Christine Henkameyer, saw him at a train stop in Minnesota and took him home as a foster child.

O'Connor grew up in Clear Lake, Minnesota, and later St. Cloud, Minnesota where he attended and graduated high school in 1929. His foster parents were both successful; Frank was a businessman (owning a grocery store) and Christine was a school principal.

Larry was encouraged by his foster parents to continue his education and he enrolled at the St. Cloud State Teachers College the fall of 1929.

In 1932, when O'Connor turned 21, he decided to begin using his given name. In 1933, he went back to college, this time at St. John's University.

Larry played baseball in his youth and continued this sport in college, playing for St. John's "Johnnies." He was talented enough that the Detroit Tigers scouted him in high school and later signed him to play in their organization. While in college, his health began to fail and he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which ended his baseball career.

After his St. John's University experience, O'Connor enrolled at the St. Paul College of Law in Minnesota.

With continuing health problems caused by the tuberculosis, Larry decided to go west to a drier climate. After relocating to Great Falls, he decided to get his teaching degree and registered at the Great Falls Normal School and also did some coaching at Franklin Elementary. He also worked with the city's summer recreation program and there were several Larson boys involved who had an attractive older sister. With a little persuasion, Larry received a telephone number and asked Helen Larson for a date. They were married in Fort Benton on November 15, 1940.

Larry graduated from the Great Falls Normal School in the spring of 1941 and began his first teaching job that fall in Hingham, Montana, a small community along the Hi-Line west of Havre.

The next year, Larry and Helen moved to the Shields Valley in Montana where Larry taught junior high at Wilsall. In 1943, he began teaching and coaching in Nashua and remained there for the rest of his life.

By all accounts, Larry was a very colorful coach, quite superstitious, developing a reputation for his frequent changes of neckties during ballgames.

Larry coached football, basketball and track at Nashua and his basketball teams were very competitive.

It was early in O'Connor's career (1945) when his Nashua boys pulled off a mammoth upset at tournament time when they upended the talented and heavily favored state contenders from Wolf Point. Led by the Porcupines big center, Dean Seiler, Nashua shocked the Wolves 44 to 29.

Larry took his boys to State a number of times, winning the Class "C" Crown in 1950.

Despite his habit of constantly changing gaudy neck ties, Lady Luck was not with the Nashua basketball team in 1954.

The Porcupines had a marvelous season that year and ended up in the State Championship game against the Fairfield Eagles. Unfortunately, one of Nashua's key players, an outstanding athlete named Wes Schick, became sick and was not on the floor. Nashua lost 56 to 53.

Nashua turned into home for Larry and Helen and they raised five children in the small community. The oldest was Kathleen, born May 22, 1941, followed by Pat on November 20, 1943; Mike on July 30, 1946; Colleen on March 8, 1954 and last was Danny, who was born on June 27, 1958.

Larry was involved in his community, serving on the church council for the Queen of Angels Catholic Church, was a member of the Nashua Lions Club, and competed in numerous bowling leagues.

He was a caring teacher, always ready to help any student through a tough time. At the high school, he taught history, government and driver's education, in addition to his coaching duties. Everyone in the school and the town simply called him "Coach."

It was quite a while after his son Mike married local girl Mary Ann Burns that Larry told her she should call him "Larry" rather than "Coach."

The name "Coach O'Connor" was known and respected throughout the state and Larry became good friends with many of those he competed against. He was further honored when he was inducted into the Montana Coaches Hall of Fame in 1983 and he continued coaching through 1968 before retiring from teaching on January 31, 1975.

After retirement, Larry kept busy, serving on the school board, as well as being involved with senior citizens, and was eventually elected mayor of Nashua.

O'Connor was personable and developed many strong friendships over the years. In May of 1980, tragedy struck and his youngest son, Danny, was killed in a car accident. Then on December 4th, 1980, Larry lost his battle with cancer and died in the Columbus Hospital in Great Falls. He was buried in the Nashua Cemetery.

O'Connor's family, adopted the community, and many friends in Montana had lost a truly remarkable and gifted human being.

Glasgow native Marvin Presser is the author of "Wolf Point - A City of Destiny." He is currently at work on book titled "Bob Lowry - A Legend in His Own Time."

 

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