Mary M. O’Brien of Arlington, MA died on April 1, 2017. She was born on April 22, 1922, the daughter of David T. O’Brien and Margaret Manning O’Brien, from County Cork, Ireland. Mary attended grade school and high school in Arlington. When her mother died too soon, Mary was like a surrogate mother to her brothers Dave, Joe, and Dick O’Brien. After high school, Mary lived in Washington, D.C., working for NASA.

After NASA, Mary moved back to Arlington, where she lived for the rest of her life. She was a big fan of the Kennedys, the Red Sox, and golf. She also enjoyed trips to the Cape, where she often stayed at her brother Dave’s cottage in Dennis. Mary was a sweet, kind, and generous person, who loved to hear how her niece and nephews and her more distant relatives were doing in life. She was well-read and educated and very keen on sacred, intellectual, and commonplace issues in the world. Of all the O’Brien and Manning relations in the U.S., she had probably the best grasp of where the families came from and which family member was up to what.
Mary is survived by her two sisters-in-law, Nancy A. O’Brien and Marlene O’Brien; her niece and nephews, Leigh M. O’Brien, Mark A. O’Brien, Eric D. O’Brien, Richard M. (Tim) O’Brien II, and Douglas G. O’Brien; and her grand nieces and nephews, cousins, and extended family in the U.S. and Ireland.

Our family will miss Mary greatly. A funeral mass will be held for her at St. Agnes Church in Arlington on Saturday, April 29, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., followed by a private burial next to her parents at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Arlington. Memorial donations may be made to St. Agnes School, 39 Medford St., Arlington, MA, 02474.