Mary Jo Conner

Mary Jo Conner, age 22, of Albany and previously of Morrison and Erie, Illinois, passed away Thursday, January 8, 2015 in Normal, Illinois. A funeral service will be held 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 14, 2015, at the Albany United Methodist Church, Albany, IL. Burial will take place in Lusk Memorial Cemetery, Albany. A visitation will be held 3:00-8:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 13, 2015, at Law-Jones Funeral Home, Savanna, Illinois. A memorial fund has been established in Mary Jo’s memory.
Mary Jo was born on May 24, 1992, to William and Melody (Robertson) Conner Sr., in Rockford, Illinois. She attended Morrison High School and graduated with the class of 2010. Her favorite teachers included Mr. Navarra and Mrs. Wisdom, who were an inspiration to her lifelong dreams of working with children. After high school, she went on to Sauk Valley Community College and received her Associates’ Degree in 2012. She was a current student at Illinois State University. Mary Jo first attended college to become an elementary school teacher as she loved children, but later changed her major to Recreational Management to help include sports into children’s lives.
Mary Jo held a number of jobs which included detasselling, babysitting, being a Sandwich Artist at Subway in Morrison, hosting at the Prairie Ridge Golf Course and Restaurant in Morrison, and working at Prime Time and Marcos Pizza in Normal, IL.
She was very active in high school and college, participating in Girl Scouts, the Big Sister Program, the College Mentoring Program, WACC for Child Development, and even being a Teacher’s Aide in some of her younger brother Will’s classes. She enjoyed deer hunting, fishing, gymnastics, dancing, soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball, Tae Kwon Do, choir, and playing the flute in band. She was an avid collector of Spiderman and Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, cute pigs, peace signs, and Precious Moments figurines. Mary Jo loved Mustang cars and hoped to own one someday. She loved watching movies and the Criminal Minds TV series. Like the rest of her family, she was a big Green Bay Packer fan and her favorite football player was Donald Driver. She loved dressing up and being a “girl” as well as being so active in sports and never being afraid to get “dirty”.
Mary Jo was very active with her family and all of her friends and loved all things and everyone. Her heart would break for anyone else’s suffering. Her friends say she had the biggest heart and the sweetest soul. She was always smiling, but never shared her pain. Her “bestest” friend was her beloved baby brother, Will, and she loved her sister Billie with all her heart. Her dearest friends were Taylor Jones Prescott, Whitney Bush, Kacey Greer Hollis, Brittney Nelson, and Crystal Atsaves, who was her biggest supporter in her last months. Her friends want all to know how much they loved her.
Mary Jo will be very deeply missed by her parents, William and Melody Conner of Albany, IL; her siblings, Billie Jean and William of Albany, IL; grandparents Gilbert and Mary Robertson Jr. and Mabel and Charles McSparin; great-grandmother Elizabeth Morrow, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Jo is now in Heaven with her cousin Michael Butt, great-grandparents Walter and Edith “E” Smither, whom she missed dearly, and George and Catherine McSparin, Gilbert and Jude Robertson Sr., Rudy and Johanna Johnson, and cousin Dylan Smither; her cherished dogs, Tucker, Chance, Hard Rock, Hooper, and Coco; and the numerous cats over the years who were very special to her.