Patricia O’Connell was born on October 9, 1920 in Watkins, Minnesota to Joe and Helen Finley. She attended grade school in Carthage, South Dakota, high school in Billings, Montana, and graduated with a teaching degree from The University of Montana in Missoula. She taught grade school in Ennis, Montana for one year before marrying C. J. O’Connell in 1946 in Missoula. The couple moved to Bozeman at that time. After her husband passed away in 1971, she moved to Billings for a short time and then to Polson where she lived from 1975 to 1994. She then moved to Wenatchea, Washington where she lived at the time of her death on April 29, 1996.
Mrs. O’Connell was a member of several historical groups and did research on the exploration and settlement of Montana. She was particularly interested in the arrival and work of Ursuline nuns in Montana, primarily at the missions on reservations, and especially the life of Mother Amadeus.
From the guide to the Patricia O'Connell Papers, 1884-1972, (University of Montana--Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)
