Robert E. O'Neill

Robert E. O’Neill Jr, of Merrimack, NH, passed away on Sunday, October 20, 2024. He was born on December 2, 1935, to Evelyn Gaboriault and Robert O’Neill Sr in Salem, MA.

Robert grew up in Salem, Marblehead and Danvers, MA. He graduated Holten High School in Danvers, MA in 1953 and later served in the Air Force from 1953 – 1957 with Honorable discharge. He was awarded the American Spirit Honor Medal for leadership. In high school he loved playing football & riding around with friends in his old Chevrolet

In 1955 Robert married Anne Halupowski, the love of his life. They had 4 children: Debra Jean of Deerfield NH, Beth O’Neill Burbank and Wendy Bamford of Manchester, NH and Robert O’Neill III of Epsom, NH.

Robert graduated form Northeastern University in Boston in 1963 with a BS in Electrical Engineering. He attended college utilizing the GI bill and working 2 jobs. One of his greatest prides was his college ring which he worked so hard to get.

His first job as an Engineer was at General Dynamics’ “Electric Boat” in Groton, CT, where he worked on the 3rd nuclear submarine, Nautilus and worked on one of the first IBM 360’s. His next job was at New England Laminates in Walden, NY where he was Plant Manager.

Robert’s last location was to beautiful New Hampshire where he and his family have lived for 50 years. He was the President of Horton and Hubbard in Nashua, NH then became founder of OMB Associates in Nashua where he was Executive Vice President. He later moved onto Polyclad Laminates in Franklin as Plant Manager and then Director of Operations. Our family fell in love with the lakes, the ocean, the mountains and again big fans of all Boston sports .He loved being with the grand-children, playing games and having cookouts. He loved being with family at home and traveling with them. They were all a joy to him-a very important part of his life.

Robert was later sent to Italy for 2 years where he built a plant from the ground up to operational. He then went to France for 1 year to assist in the operations of an existing laminating plant. He loved Italian food and traveling around Italy and made wonderful Italian friends. With his French heritage he was able to enjoy all that is French. He and Anne were able to travel extensively in Europe.

In his free time, Robert was a collector of fine artwork and historical artifacts. He found joy in writing poetry and in his retirement brought great pleasure to his family with his poetry. His love of music went from Pavarotti to the Blues and enjoyed the Polish side of our family.

After Robert and Anne returned from their trip to Japan, Robert created his own beautiful Zen Garden where he would walk around in his Japanese Kimono and feed his fish and simply enjoy the beauty of it all.

Robert is survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Anne and his children as well as his brother James O’Neill and his wife Lucille of Jaffrey, NH; grandchildren Micah, Sarah, Kelly, Ben, Borah, Ian, Quinn, Jocelyn, Jake, Hannah, Alecea, Michael and Robert E. O’Neill III, and great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his grandson Taylor O’Neill and granddaughter Kathleen O’Neill. He will be dearly missed by his family.

A celebration of Robert’s life will be held on Monday, October 28 from 4 pm to 6pm, with a service beginning at 5 pm at the Cremation Society of NH, 243 Hanover St. Manchester, NH. He will be laid to rest at the NH State Veterans Cemetery on Tuesday, October 29 at 1:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Robert’s memory can be made out to Humane Society of Nashua, NH.