Paul F. O'Connell

Paul F. O’Connell, of Madison WI passed away on July 2, 2026. He was born in New Prague, MN to Ralph O’Connell and the former Frances Boeckmann. He had four siblings; Jean, Patrick, Ruth and Michael who all preceded him in death.

Paul grew up on a dairy farm and spent two years in the U.S. Navy from January 1956 to November 1957. He married Marian Page on June 29, 1957. They were married for almost 65 years before Marian passed away on June 2, 2022. They had four children; Barbara, Patrick, James and Daniel.

With the support of his wife, Paul pursued an advanced education. He earned his B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1962, his Master’s in Agricultural Economics from Colorado State and his PhD in Natural Resource Economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Paul’s career focused on sustainable resource economics for the Federal Government and the World Bank over a 45-year career. He traveled extensively both internationally and domestically. One of his favorite places was New Zealand where Marian and Paul lived for 1 year. In 2008. After retiring from the World Bank, Paul and Marian moved to Las Cruces, NM where he taught economics at New Mexico State University. They thoroughly enjoyed living and making friends in Las Cruces. Paul was an avid golfer and frequent speaker at community round table events.

Paul is survived by three of his children; Barbara, James and Daniel and 4 grandchildren; Sean, Cora, Cian and Conor.

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