Mary Catherine O'Connor, 84, passed away Tuesday, April 16, 2024. She was born June 28, 1939 in Washington, DC to Cecil and Catherine (Hickey) Tighe.  She attended Nativity Catholic School, the Academy of Notre Dame, and the Washington School for Secretaries.  She worked at the Central Intelligence Agency, the Capital Centre, and for the Court of Federal Claims and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit until her retirement in 2007.

In addition to her professional obligations, Mary Catherine raised five children.  She was a mother who was always there when her children needed her, no matter what hare-brained predicament they found themselves in.  During the 1970s, as womens' liberation kicked into high gear, she volunteered to act as the first and only commissioner of the Lanham Boys Club's girls' flag football league, providing her daughters and other girls the opportunity to play competitive flag football.  (Helmets were optional the first year!  She made improvements over time.)

After retirement, Mary Catherine was able to indulge her passion for reading and became a member of a now-longstanding book club.  For many years, she was an Anne Arundel County Library volunteer.  She also volunteered at Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC).  Later in life, when she could no longer work at AAMC, any time she was at the hospital she would approach the desk and let the volunteer know that used to be her job.

Mary Catherine was a loyal, life-long Redskins fan and loved watching games while hollering at the TV.  She also loved to be near, or on, any body of water.  Every year, without fail, she and her children vacationed at the beach in Ocean City, Maryland.

"MC" knew no strangers and always had a friendly smile for anyone she met. During her 27 years as an Annapolitan, she spent many afternoons greeting neighbors as they passed by her bench outside her home on Admiral Drive.

Based on her initials and child-rearing techniques, she gained the nickname MC Hammer, which her grandchildren subsequently shortened to Grandma Hammer.  She was inordinately proud of those 11 grandchildren and one great grandson and attended their activities whenever she could.

She is survived by her five children, Kathleen O'Connor (Thomas Killeen), Elizabeth O'Connor, George O'Connor III (Laura), Molly O'Connor (Fred Gentile IV), Megan Cipriano (Brian); ten grandchildren, Jonathan O'Connor, Rose Murray, Simone Cipriano, Caroline O'Connor, Grace Murray, Kate Murray, Clare Gentile, Dominic Cipriano, Connor Killeen, and Declan Gentile and one great grandchild, Levi O'Connor.  She is also survived by her siblings Cecily Bostock, James Tighe, Clare Tighe, Conny Crenshaw, and numerous nieces and nephews.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Cecil and Catherine Tighe, brother Michael, and grandson Rory Gentile.

The family wishes to express its gratitude to the resident assistants at Spring Arbor assisted living facility who provided her with exceptional care up to the end of her life as well as to the staff of Hospice of the Chesapeake.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, April 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Barranco Funeral Home, Severna Park, MD.  A funeral mass will be said on Friday, April 26 at 10:30 a.m. at St. John Neumann, Annapolis, MD.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake or St. Ann's Center, Washington, DC.