John O’Neill is a jovial man who made this interview a pleasure! Sitting among the gorgeous summer flowers on a friend’s patio, we talked at length about his life experiences and career. A master storyteller, John shared some wonderful tales of life in Menomonie and beyond.

John’s family moved to Menomonie in 1946. One of his early memories took place in kindergarten. As John was walking to school on the first day, a boy (who shall remain nameless) came out of his house and punched John in the stomach. John had never seen this boy before, so had no idea what had compelled him to use John as a punching bag. The next day, the same thing happened. In order to sidestep the situation, on the third day of kindergarten, John took a different route to school. And yet, the boy intercepted him and delivered another stomach punch! Later during his elementary school years, John and this neighbor boy became friends.

Although John was never an athlete in high school, he was manager of the boys’ basketball team and he wrestled. He also was in the choir. In addition, since by this time, John’s mother Jean was a single mother (an English teacher in Menom

onie) with five children, John—as the oldest—held two different jobs at area gas stations, serving as an attendant at Carrol (C.J.) Stratton’s DX Station and pumping gas/washing windows for Oz Topdahl at Standard Oil. He also worked at a gas station while in college.

Busy as he was, John did, however, have time to be one of a group he called the “naughty boys.” One of their tricks was throwing water balloons at passing vehicles on Highway 12. Because John was never one of the taller boys in his class, he remembers that when the police would chase the group, they described him as “a little boy that runs like a baby.”

Between their third and fourth year of high school, John and three friends took a driving trip to New York City, camping along the way. They were perhaps more self-confident than they should have been; he remembers that on their way back, they were twice woken by Chicago police officers concerned about their safety.

John attended Wisconsin State College-LaCrosse (now UW-LaCrosse) because it was close to home. He confessed, “my parents, when they were students at the University in Madison, had been members of a fraternity and a sorority. My mother hoped that La Crosse would not be a party school; but she was wrong!”

It was while John was at college that he met his wife Mary (Cookie) Buschmann when they were both acting in the play “Inherit the Wind.”

After graduation from La Crosse, John went on to the University of Minnesota, where he earned his PhD. in English Literature. In 1972 he accepted a position at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, a small liberal arts college. It was a perfect fit for John.

During his time at Hamilton, John was named to the Leavenworth Chair and the LeFevre Chair (the second faculty member to receive this honor at Hamilton). In addition, he won the Hamilton College Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award.

After retirement from Hamilton in 2011, he continued to teach one course per year until COVID struck. That course studied the novels of Jane Austen and films of her works. John’s interest in “all things Austen” led him to become a scholar of that author. In 2014, he led a Jane Austen tour of England for Hamilton alumni, parents, and friends.

Cookie, too, found her niche at Hamilton. She served as the Director of the Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning Center there. She participated in the Joint Math meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America conference.

The couple has two children—John Markos O’Neill and Amy Elizabeth O’Neill Houck. John Markos and his wife live in San Francisco, where he works in the tech industry. They have two adult children. Amy, who lives in Alaska with her family, is a food writer and co-editor/publisher of the “Edible Alaska” magazine. She, too, has two children.

John and Cookie have been fortunate to have opportunities to become international travelers. Off the top of his head, John listed eleven different countries that he and Cookie have visited! But as the saying goes, “there’s no place like home.” The O’Neills still live in Clinton, New York in the house they moved into in 1972.

John Higbee O’Neill is an interesting man who has come far since his life in Menomonie.

As we closed our interview, John stated, “I was fortunate to have people help me everywhere I’ve been. I very much value their friendship and help.”

Judy Foust is a retired longtime 7th Grade Reading Specialist at Menomonie Middle School. To submit info to her or to request an interview she may be contacted at [email protected]