O'Connor's create automotive scholarship

Retired teachers Dan and Verene O’Connor of Peru are continuing to support Illinois Valley Community College students through a scholarship. The $500 Dan and Verene O’Connor Automotive Scholarship will be awarded for the first time this fall. 

Dan taught in IVCC’s automotive technology program from 1981 to 2020; his career included 31 years of full-time and seven years part-time work in the classroom, lab, and shop floor.  

A native of Seattle, Verene taught kindergarten and second grade for 25 years at Dimmick Community Consolidated School before retiring in 2011. 

The O’Connor’s met in 1972 at Madison West High School while Verene’s father was studying for his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin.  

As a child, Dan and his six brothers were dealt a devastating blow when their father went blind at age 47. Mr. O’Connor was forced to sell his successful Chevrolet dealership and move his wife and sons to a farm in tiny Lomira, Wis.  

Dan was just 11 when he and his brothers were dropped into a life requiring the daily milking of 80 cows before school and after school – and putting up 10,000 bales of hay in the summer.  

“We found out what work was,” Dan says. “We had to grow up fast. It made all of us tougher.” He laments there was little time after school for fun or sports.  

After three years, the family moved back to Madison and Dan would later earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and work three years at Zimbrick Buick in West Madison. 

Before coming to IVCC, he didn’t know automotive electricity or computerization well but made it his mission to master it and to keep up with ever-advancing technology.   

“I made it my goal to learn it and I did. I loved all the scanners, scopes, and wiring diagrams. I was going to school for advanced training all the time. 

“I loved trouble-shooting and passing along shortcuts to students,” he says. “It was great to see students grow from the first year to the second and to see them become ready for the job market.” 

He is proud to see his students and those of his IVCC colleagues working as technicians across the region.  

“Chances are, your mechanic was trained by Art Koudelka, Richard Marko, Shane Lange or me. That’s what it’s all about – helping local businesses.”  

He also created lifelong relationships with students. 

“Some of my best friends are former students. I was the Best Man for one and ‘deaconed’ the wedding of another.”  

Following retirement from full-time teaching, Dan studied for five years to become a Catholic deacon and he now serves St. Joseph’s, St. Valentine’s, and St. Mary’s Parishes in Peru. At his first mass as a deacon, he had the thrill of celebrating alongside his son, Father Michael.  

The O’Connor’s have two other sons, Brian (Anne) and Steve (Cristin), and four grandchildren.