Former Longboat Key Commissioner Peter O’Connor dies

If there was one quality former Longboat Key Town Commissioner Peter O'Connor exemplified, it was preparation, colleagues said. 

Whether it was an issue related to beach erosion or something to do with the town's organizing documents, O'Connor was always ready to make his case, said former Commissioner and Mayor Joan Webster.

“He studied everything before we had meetings, and he was an expert on the town charter,” she said. “He always defined his comments with how the charter was saying we should handle this particular kind of issue.”

O'Connor, who served on the commission from 2006 to 2010 and previously on other boards, died last week. He was 84. 

“He was a serious commissioner, worked hard and approached things in his unique fashion,” said Commissioner George Spoll, who served with the Navy veteran for four years.  

Webster sat alongside O'Connor for two terms and said it was a pleasure to work with him on issues of town interest. 

“Peter never spoke to hear himself, his own voice,” Webster said. “He spoke because he was defining some issue we were discussing.”

Before his election to the commission, O’Connor served on the Longboat Key Zoning Board of Adjustment from May 2004-January 2006. He also served on the Code Enforcement Board from May 2002-May 2004.

David Brenner, who died in 2019, defeated O'Connor in the 2010 commission election. 

During his professional career, O’Connor worked as public works officer of a naval submarine base in New London, Conn. He also worked as the public works director of Warminster, Pa. and Plymouth, Mass.

O’Connor was a retired commander in the Navy and served as a Seabee engineer. He held a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a civil engineering degree from Notre Dame University.

“Those are two places where you are taught discipline, and Peter was very disciplined, and he did his homework,” Webster said. “In the days we served on the commission, we did not have iPads, we had notebooks...His notebook was full of notes.” 

O’Connor, who had visited his parents on Longboat Key since 1973, bought his first home on the island in 1990. O’Connor and his wife Patricia have five children. His funeral is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16 at St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church at 4280 Gulf of Mexico Drive.