Patrick H. O'Brien

With profound sadness we announce the passing of Patrick H. O'Brien, our loving and devoted father, on January 17, 2022.  He left us while sleeping peacefully at his residence in Greenbelt, Maryland.  He was in his 91st year.  Pat will be remembered for his unwavering devotion to his faith, his commitment to his family, his gentle demeanor, his sharp and inventive wit and his keen intelligence.

Pat was born on November 22, 1931, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Thomas J. O’Brien and Ruth Bridget Howard O’Brien.  Both his parents graduated from Creighton College.   Thomas graduated from its School of Law and Ruth graduated from its School of Nursing.

In 1935, Pat, his parents and older brother, Tommy, moved from Omaha to the District of Columbia.   Soon after the move, the family was blessed with the birth of Pat’s younger brother, Paul.  Their father worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of the Interior and their mother worked as a nurse at Georgetown University Hospital.

From first through eighth grade, Pat attended Nativity Catholic School on Georgia Avenue.  He graduated from Nativity in 1946.  While at Nativity, Pat met several fellow students that would become life-long friends.

For his freshman year of high school, Pat attended St. Charles College, a minor seminary in Catonsville, Maryland.  After a year of vocational discernment, Pat determined he was not being called to religious life.  He returned to the District and enrolled in St. John's College High School, then located on Vermont Avenue.  Reunited with his Nativity buddies, Pat excelled as a student under the tutelage of the De La Salle Christian Brothers and graduated in 1950.

Pat was admitted to the engineering school at Catholic University of America to study civil engineering.  Pat’s father unexpectantly died during Pat’s freshman year at CU. After one more semester, he left college to enlist in the Navy in the winter of 1952.

After basic training, the Navy sent Pat to aviation electronics school in Memphis, Tennessee. After completing training, Pat was assigned to the recently-recommissioned USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39), an Essex - class aircraft carrier.  In April 1953, the USS Lake Champlain set sail from Florida for Korea, via the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Sea of Japan.  Once the carrier reached the Sea of Japan, the carrier's air group commenced operations, attacking military targets, giving close air support to hard pressed ground forces, and escorting B-29 bombers on their way to strategic targets. As an aviation electronics technician, Pat supported the various squadrons that were from time to time assigned to the ship. USS Lake Champlain continued operations from the Sea of Japan until the armistice was signed in July 1953.

In the Fall 1953, USS Lake Champlain left the Sea of Japan and headed home to Florida, with port calls at Singapore, Cannes, and Lisbon.  In the years that followed, Pat made additional cruises to the Mediterranean, participating in exercises with NATO forces.  In January 1956, Pat left the USS Champlain at Gibraltar and returned to Norfolk via the battleship USS New Jersey.  Turning down an offer to attend officers candidate school, Pat left the Navy as an Aviation Electronics Technician First Class.

In February 1956, Pat was hired by IBM as a customer services representative and sent to Poughkeepsie, New York, for training.  Over the next 35 years, he worked in several positions with IBM at both company and customer facilities.  In addition to his early responsibilities as a customer service representative, Pat worked as a software developer, a systems engineer, and a marketing support representative.  While at IBM, Pat participated in the historic expansion of the use of mainframe computers, including the rise of business computing and space exploration, and the revolution of the personal computers.  During the last few years with IBM, Pat worked for IBM World Trade, which gave him the opportunity to visit many foreign countries.   He retired from IBM in 1991.

While in Poughkeepsie for training during 1956, Pat met Lillian Osterhoudt, also working at IBM. They met at Pat & George’s, a bar in Lil’s hometown of New Paltz. They immediately started dating and were married on February 23, 1957.

During the first years of their marriage, Pat and Lil lived in an apartment in Silver Spring.  While living in Silver Spring, Kathy and Timmy were born.  In 1959, the family moved from Silver Spring to Greenbelt, then an outer suburb.   After the move, Pat and Lil’s family rapidly expanded with the additions of Michael, Liz and Bridget.  After a while, Mary Pat came along. While raising the kids and working full time, Pat completed his studies at CU and received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1962.

In 1972, Pat and Lil purchased their beach house in South Bethany, Delaware.  Often used by all members of family, the beach house provided opportunities to get together to sail, to water ski, to jet ski, to sit on the beach, and (most importantly according to Lil), to go out to dinner.   Many dusks were spent in the tranquility of the beach house porch enjoying sunsets, cold beverages and copious conversations.  The fourth generation of the family has now benefited from that fortunate purchase.

In retirement, Pat and Lil had ample time to focus their love and attention on their grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Every weekend they looked forward to attending one or more events to support their grand kids.  They attended band concerts, plays and, most often, sporting events, including softball, baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, and football games.

Pat loved all things Irish, including Irish history, Irish literature, Irish music, and, most notably, Irish pubs.  He enjoyed several trips to Ireland with Lil and his friends from Nativity and St. John’s.

Also in retirement, Pat developed an avid interest in genealogy and his family history.  Prior to the internet advances in genealogy, Pat spent countless hours in libraries and archives, both in the US and Ireland, tracing his Irish roots. Pat’s paternal grandparents, Thomas F. O’Brien (a veteran of the US Army who fought in the US Civil War, the invasion of Canada, and the American Frontier Wars) and Margaret O’Brien were born in Limerick City and were married at St. Michael’s Church, Limerick.  The family of his maternal grandfather, Samuel Howard, immigrated to the United States from County Cork.  The family of his maternal grandmother, Bridget Shanahan, immigrated from County Tipperary.  Pat developed a family tree on Ancestry.com with over three thousand people.

Pat was preceded in death by his dear wife and constant companion, Lillian; his revered brothers, Thomas J. O’Brien and Paul J. O’Brien; and his beloved granddaughter, Jennifer Marie Clark.

Pat was survived by his six beloved children, Kathleen O’Brien; Timothy O’Brien (Sue); Michael O’Brien; Elizabeth Clark (George); Ruth Bridget Humphreys (TJ); and Mary Patricia Sowers (Michael); by his eleven cherished grandchildren, Kelly Downs (Earl); Megan Clark (Matthew); Sara Humphreys (Andrew); John O’Brien (Jessica); Brian Humphreys (Kimberly); Thomas O’Brien; Erin Humphreys McLaughlin (Armando); Maggie O’Brien Nixon (Eric); Patrick Sowers; Abby Sowers; and Molly Sowers; and by his five treasured great grandchildren, Dominik Downs, Hailey Downs; Jack O’Brien; Owen O’Brien and Emma Humphreys.