Fred J. O’Hara was born on July 3, 1875, in Kent County, Michigan. He was the son of Sarah J. Lamoreaux and her second husband, Bryan O’Hara. Bryan O’Hara was from Ireland
From at least 1874 to 1887, the O’Haras lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Bryan worked as a cabinet-maker. Sarah divorced Bryan in 1885, claiming that he was a drunkard and failed to support her and the children. On December 7, 1887, Bryan O'Hara died as a result of injuries received during a saloon fight in Evansville, Indiana.
Sarah and her two children moved west to Tacoma, Washington, after Bryan’s death. Fred may have become a touring musician, as his comings and goings from Tacoma were occasionally noted in the newspapers. Apparently, his banjo was briefly stolen—but recovered—in 1895.
He soon joined the Eagles, a fraternal organization formed in 1898 in Seattle which drew its membership from among those in the performing arts.
Suffering from an unspecified illness, Fred had moved to Phoenix, Arizona, by 1901. He died of peritonitis at Sisters’ Hospital on November 1, 1901, and was buried in Porter Cemetery by the local chapter of the Eagles, Aeyrie 178. The Eagles also provided his grave marker.
- by Donna Carr
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