Frank Patrick O'Connor

Frank Patrick O'Connor (April 9, 1885 – August 21, 1939) was a Canadian politician, businessman, philanthropist. He was the founder of Laura Secord Chocolates and Fanny Farmer.

Born in Deseronto, Ontario, the son of Mary Eleanor McKeown and Patrick O'Connor, O'Connor quit school at the age of 14 and started working at Canadian General Electric in Peterborough. He married Mary Ellen Hayes and moved with her to Toronto in 1912. In 1913, he opened the Laura Secord Candy Store on Yonge Street. He expanded the store across Canada and into the United States where it was known as Fanny Farmer Candy Stores.cite web|title=Francis Patrick O’Connor - A Legacy of Generosity|work=Heritage Toronto|url=http://www.heritagetoronto.org/discover-toronto/community-stories/francis-patrick-o-connor-legacy-generosity]

A Roman Catholic, he gave $500,000 in the 1930s to the Archdiocese of Toronto under the trusteeship of Cardinal James Charles McGuigan.

In 1935, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. He represented the senatorial division of Scarborough Junction, Ontario until his death in 1939. [cite web|title=Parliament of Canada biography|url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=1e0ca0a3-54b2-4d73-aee9-e4b27047048e&Language=E]

Senator O'Connor College School, a Toronto Catholic District School Board high school, was named in his honour.

References