John Francis O’Neill, III

John Francis O’Neill III

John Francis O’Neill III, a hard-working trucker who valued his personal privacy and loved his family and friends more, died Thursday, September 25, after a 16-month battle with cancer. He was 54.

Mr. O’Neill was born on October 4, 1970, in Philadelphia to his mother Regina (nee LeBender) O’Neill and father John. He grew up in the city’s neighborhoods of Kensington and Mayfair, and at an early age exhibited an appreciation for the natural world.

He loved animals. In elementary school, he walked his pet cat to St. Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church to be blessed on the annual Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. At parties, he sought out the pets. His own dogs sometimes rode shotgun on his delivery runs for various trucking companies, most recently Gehring-Montgomery Inc. of Warminster.

As a child, Mr. O’Neill enjoyed the beauty of hiking in Pennypack Park, and swimming, sitting and strolling along the Jersey shore.

As a youth, Mr. O’Neill showed an early love of music, spinning his mother’s vinyl Beatles albums as a pretend disc jockey. In thirdgrade, Mr. O’Neill was playing the piano, and later switched to drums. As an adult, Mr. O’Neill joined bands that played in Center City Philadelphia’s bar and club scene, where he also worked as a waiter and manager. It was as a manager at the high-rise Pyramid Club that Mr. O’Neill made life-long friendships with people who shared his musical passions, love of food, and the value of loyalty.

At a young age, Mr. O’Neill learned the quiet joy and art of fishing from his father during family vacations in Sea Isle City, N.J. As he got older, he’d spend hours quietly and painstakingly untangling his father’s fishing lines. He also shared his love of fishing with his nephews and nieces by buying them rods or coaxing them to join him on fishing trips.

Mr. O’Neill visited his parents several times a week to watch Phillies games and Eagles games with his father and share cooking recipes and gardening tips with his mother. Mr. O’Neill also never missed a holiday family gathering or his nephews’ and nieces’birthday, sacramental and graduation milestones.

In May 2024, Mr. O’Neill was diagnosed with cancer and never complained through the treatments and pain. He died peacefully in his sleep at VITAS Hospice at Nazareth Hospital.

In addition to his parents, Mr. O’Neill is survived by his sisters Jennifer Esack and Cathleen Jurowicz, and their respective spouses Steve and Albert; and five nephews and nieces: Stephen, Nora and Kevin Esack; and Cecilia and Albert Jurowicz III.

Relatives and friends are invited to join the family for his viewing at 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at Slabinski Sucharski Funeral Home, 2614 Orthodox St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19137. A Mass of Christian Bural will follow at 11 a.m. at St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church, 4415 Almond St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19137.Interment will follow at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, 4268 Richmond St, Philadelphia, PA 19137.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to VITAS Community Connection, a 501(c)3 charitable organization that helps hospice patients and their families: https://vitascommunityconnection.org.