Barbara "Babs" Jean O'Connor Pivonka, 74, of Pensacola, FL passed away Wednesday, June 27, 2018.

Babs was born on August 11, 1943, in Detroit, MI. Her father, Edward, was 32 and her mother, Genevieve "Jennie", was 32. At age 5, when Babs moved to Lillian, AL she had 3 brothers (2 older & 1 younger) plus an older sister. She soon had another younger brother for a total of 5 siblings. She attended Little Flower Catholic Elementary and Catholic High School in Pensacola, FL about 25 miles away. She then earned an AS degree in nursing from Pensacola Junior College. With her new nursing license she interned at the now defunct Escambia County Hospital. In her off time she enjoyed attending the Pensacola minor league baseball games. She left for a county hospital in Gainesville, FL with the intention of working on her BS degree at the University of Florida...but only took French. So she left for the big city of Atlanta's Veteran's Hospital. It was so badly run she moved to a new Community Mental Health Center funded by a President Kennedy initiative and earned her BS in Nursing from Georgia State University. One of her brothers and her father also lived in the Atlanta area so she wasn't so all alone. She was given the authority at the Mental Health Center to perform triage when the doctor was away. She received a grant to earn her Nursing Master's Degree from the University of North Carolina. She was certified as an RN in Florida and Georgia among other states. To expand her horizons, she called the US Air Force Chief Nurse and received a commission to work as a psychiatric nurse in Southern California. After leaving the Air Force as a Captain, she worked as a mental health nurse practitioner in the AF Reserve while also working as Director of Nursing at the Pamona Psychiatric Hospital. She did continuing education at both Southern Cal in Los Angeles and later at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City. In her spare time she got herself ranked by the Inland Empire Karate Association. Later she worked in the mental health department at UCLA with the elderly, before her brother Steve, a Catholic priest in Panama City, FL demanded she move back there to give her more stability and a continuity of family life. There in Florida she worked in several mental health positions and met her future husband, Jerry Pivonka who was working for the USAF. They were married by her brother, Fr. Steve O'Connor, at his Afro-American parish in Pensacola, and then they honeymooned at Hilton Head Island, NC. They settled into Jerry's house in Panama City where eventually both retired, enjoying trips and religious pilgrimages across the country and Europe. There was a family joke that when they came to Pensacola to visit (100 mile or so drive) they would stop halfway to spend the night. They were really taking it easy in their retirement! Sadly, Jerry developed lung cancer from smoking and died in July of 2004 shortly after being diagnosed. After living alone and in depression for some time afterward, her brothers insisted she move to an assisted living facility in Pensacola to be near her family, which she reluctantly did. She soon grew to love the place, developed close friends and as the youngest member, always tried to help the other members of the assisted living community. She would sneak around at night and slip chocolate candy bars under their doors. And of course she had an adopted stray cat as a pet. Around 2015 her memory problems caused her to move to a memory care assisted living facility, Creekside, in northern Pensacola area where she settled in happily and "wants to spend the rest of her life there". And she did.

She is preceded in death by her parents; sister, Mary LeVan and brother, Fr. Steve O'Connor; sister-in-law, Maria O'Connor.

Survivors include her 3 brothers, Ed O'Connor (Ali), Larry O'Connor (Beth) and Jim O'Connor; brother-in-law, Jerry LeVan; as well as many nieces, nephews and extended family.

Visitation will be held 9:30am until a Funeral Mass at 10:00am Saturday, July 7, 2018 at The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. Graveside Committal will be held 2:30pm Saturday, July 7, 2018 at Catholic Cemetery, 1400 Frankford Ave., Panama City, FL.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society, 2200 W. DeSoto St., Pensacola, FL 32505.