Jimmy O’Conor takes reluctant turn in the spotlight
When Jimmy O’Conor took home the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber’s highest civilian honor Feb. 16, it represented a reluctant turn in the spotlight.
“It’s a huge honor. I’d rather stay under the radar. I’m honored to have it. Being recognized is awesome, but I’d still rather be anonymous,” he said.
O’Conor is the owner of Woody’s in Dewey Beach, known for its crab cakes. His reluctance to toot his own horn is palpable; O’Conor is soft-spoken but friendly, accompanied on this day by his 10-week-old golden retriever, Piper. His purple Baltimore Ravens cap pays tribute to his Charm City roots.
He was honored with the chamber’s Mae Hall McCabe Award for his charity work on behalf of kidney disease, which first affected O’Conor when he was only 5 years old. O’Conor has lived through three kidney transplants in his life. He volunteers with the Kidney Foundation of Baltimore, an organization O’Conor said his mother first got involved with after he was diagnosed with kidney disease.
“Kidney Foundation is dear to my heart. The donation part of the kidneys, I’m thankful for everything,” he said.
A native of Towson, Md., O’Conor moved to Dewey eight years ago after marrying his wife, Annemarie, a Sussex County native. They first met when O’Conor was in the home mortgage business back in Maryland and his future wife was a realtor. He said it was Annemarie who first informed him that the space that would become Woody’s was for sale. The couple has two dogs and no children or grandchildren.
“The first time I came down here was 1982,” O’Conor said of Dewey. “I lived in Ocean City, and we used to come up because it was something different than Ocean City.”
O’Conor started Woody’s in 2009, and the crab cake quickly became known as one of the best in the Cape Region. He said the crab cake recipe has been tweaked over the years, but includes a secret ingredient that O’Conor would not divulge.
“It’s been pretty successful,” O’Conor said.
The key to Woody’s success, he said, was consistency. O’Conor said he may only change one or two menu items a year to keep it interesting, and the staff has remained fairly consistent over the last few years. He said the name Woody’s is a reference to old woody cars.
“I was originally going to call it Jimmy’s, but Jimmy’s was opened across the street a month before I did,” O’Conor said.
He said he likes Dewey because of the small-town atmosphere and thinks the town has become more well-rounded over the years.
“We like our vibrant nightlife, obviously. But the town itself has evolved in the eight years I’ve been here. I mean, it’s the middle of March, and I have a full restaurant,” O’Conor said. “Five years ago, I wasn’t this busy.”
