In Memoriam: April O'Neil

I first met April O’Neil in 2003, or perhaps it was 2005. It was a brief encounter, followed up by a few more over the next couple years. Hair pulled into a bun, baggy pants as befit the era, we didn’t really talk but it was easy to get a sense of who she was: strong-willed, smart, fiercely loyal, and no-nonsense. We lost what little touch we had after that - neither of us had MySpace or Facebook or, in my case, a cell phone at the time - and it wasn’t until years later that we would meet again.

By then, April had changed, as one often does. She’d lived a life full of adventure, with wild stories and unbelievable antics, much of it before our first encounter and still more after. She’d changed her hair, her outfit, her profession, her home (at least twice) and even her relationships. Yet she was still undeniably April, full of fire and stubborn as an ox, though now she seemed tinged by a greater melancholy, owing to the many tragedies she had suffered.

We chatted in the way old friends do across the next few months, me listening as much as I could, absorbing a seemingly endless array of imbroglios that she and her friends found themselves in: space travel, sewer lairs, ninja wars, vigilantism, alternate dimensions, alien diplomacy, a steamy on-again-off-again romance, and that’s just the easy to remember stuff. I could barely keep up. It was exhilarating all the same. I wished it would never end.

But life doesn’t like granting wishes. Just as suddenly as we reconnected, we drifted once more. Days turned to weeks turned to months; a ping here, a message there. Never much more than a check-in as both our lives got busy once more. Recently I had stepped up my effort, realizing it had been nearly a year and a half since last we spoke.

It was then that I heard about her passing.

It is a hard thing, losing someone. It’s even harder when you know they had already gone through so much to simply be there, fighting every day to be seen, to be heard, to be taken seriously. April was a fighter, but one can only fight so long before it all catches up with you. She was more than a fighter, though. A multi-faceted woman, April was many things to many people.

To some, she was the intrepid reporter April Harriet O'Neil for Channel 6, breaking stories in her signature yellow jumpsuit. For others, she was Dr. Jones, a talented computer scientist with a few jobs that she probably hesitated to put on a resume. She was a fighter; a political doer; an antique store owner; a journalist; a scientist; a friend; a lover; a real pain in the ass; a mother, guardian, vigilante, geneticist, and more. Some say she was psychic and others a living drawing. Some even swear they saw her turn into a turtle.

Whatever she was to them, the one thing they could all agree on is she was a strong presence and a fierce woman. She used her voice to affect change, had a strong sense of justice, and would fight anyone who came for her family, found and otherwise. Protecting them. To the end, if necessary. She wouldn’t have gone out any other way.

April is survived by her daughter, Casey Marie Jones, and her grandchildren: Odyn, Moja, Uno, and Yi. She will be missed. She will be mourned. Goodbye, April. And good night.

April O’Neil: 1957-20xx