Barb O'Connor

Barbara Bernice Kessler Bennett O'Connor, 90, of Fort Dodge passed away Thursday, February 23, 2023, at the University of Iowa Hospital. Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 2, 2023 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM at the Laufersweiler Funeral Home. There will also be a church visitation Friday, March 3,2023 from 9:30 to 10:15 AM at Holy Trinity Church followed by a Mass. Burial will follow at Corpus Christi Cemetery. She is survived by her daughter Mary Beth Frischmeyer and her husband Michael of Fort Dodge, son Bennett and his wife Diane of Fort Dodge, and daughter Becky Fideler and her husband Dr. Brad of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin as well as grandchildren Connor Frischmeyer, Megan Frischmeyer, Cara Bartingale, Erin Clavey, Dr. Kate Fideler, Emily Fideler, Elizabeth Fideler, four great-grandchildren, sister Linda Bennett, and brother Jack Kessler. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert J. O'Connor, parents Henry and Bernice Kessler, John and Bernice Bennett, and brothers David and Gerald Bennett. Barbara Bernice Kessler Bennett O'Connor was born on June 14, 1932, at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, IA. She graduated from Boone High School in 1950 and then attended Saint Joseph's Mercy School of Nursing in Sioux City, IA, where she graduated in 1954. She worked as a staff nurse at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Fort Dodge, Iowa for several years. On April 16, 1955 she married Robert John O'Connor at Sacred Heart Church in Boone, Iowa. They were set up on a blind date by their friends Chuck and Norman Doyle. The couple resided in Fort Dodge where Bob was in the insurance business with his father John. The first school nurse's office for St. Edmond was established by Barbara in 1977. All the equipment for her office was from the old Mercy Hospital; including the beds. In addition, she was one of the first 60 hour, now 75-hour, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) instructors at Iowa Central Community College where she began teaching in 1971 and continued until 2019. Barbara also led the Home Health Aide and Medication Management classes at the college and administered testing of the CNA's there. From 1983 to 1986 she was employed as psychiatric nurse with the North Central Iowa Mental Health Center, now UnityPoint Health-Berryhill Center. She donated time to the St Mark's Free Community Health Clinic as well. In 2011, she was awarded the Messenger Nurses Excellence Award. In her free time Barbara enjoyed playing bridge in several clubs and Mah Jong with a group of friends and attended "tag" sales. She participated in the PTA and other parent groups of Corpus Christi Academy while her children were in school. Other groups and clubs she enjoyed, and was a member of, included the: Wahkonsa Chapter of Questers, Soldier Creek Chapter of Questers, Ingelside Club, Art Club, Catholic Daughters of America, Chapter MT and currently JX of the P.E.O, Red Hat Society, Fort Dodge Area Symphony Board, and the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Auxiliary. Barbara was a docent, and a donor, at the Blanden Art Museum. She also participated in the Square Circle Church and served as a Eucharistic Minister for Corpus Christi church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be donated to the Marian Home of Fort Dodge. nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmarianhome.com%2Fgiving%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cdiane.oconnor%40unitypoint.org%7Cdce7280b8d4849ba043d08db18d220e2%7Cab214bcd9b9741bbaa9d46cf10d822fd%7C0%7C0%7C638131063000727266%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=HJGQk6W3Sm92acWALO%2F8%2Fdpg5ZUlrZtpifVMcUlRaAU%3D&reserved=0 Visitation Thu, Mar 2, 2023 at 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home 307 South 12th Street Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 Visitation Fri, Mar 3, 2023 at 9:30 am - 10:15 am Holy Trinity Church 2501 6th Avenue North Fort Dodge, IA 50501 Funeral Mass Fri, Mar 3, 2023 at 10:30 am Holy Trinity Church 2501 6th Avenue North Fort Dodge, IA 50501