Jessica Rae O'Brien

Jessica was born on December 31st, 1963 in Grand Forks, North Dakota to Leslie and Mary Berg. The family moved to a dairy farm near Waubun, MN a few years later where she grew up and attended school. In high school she was valedictorian of her graduating class and participated in cross country, tennis, and band. She attended North Dakota State University where she continued to pursue her love of music by playing the trombone in both concert band and the Gold Star Marching Band. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in medical technology. It was at North Dakota State that she also met the love of her life, Michael O’Brien. They married on September 20th, 1986 in Waubun, Minnesota. They celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary this fall.

Nothing was more important to Jessi than her family. She was a loving and supportive wife that kept the house in order as Mike’s job required the family to move multiple times to various cities around the country. After Mike’s retirement from UPS, they decided to buy a home in Cold Spring, Minnesota to be closer to both of their dads and their siblings. They also purchased a place in Fort Myers as they had developed a passion for Twins spring training baseball and the warm winter sunshine. Both these places became vacation destinations for their children and other family members who wanted to get away from the Minnesota cold for a short time.

Jes adored her children and decided to give up her medical technology career after the family’s first move to be a full time stay at home Mom. She shared her passion for reading and music with her children, and was their first piano teacher. Jes enjoyed sewing and making homemade costumes for the kids for Halloween. She loved watching her children as they excelled in school and music and enjoyed cheering them on during all of their sporting events.

Jessi enjoyed cards, family game nights and taking care of and training their dogs over the years. She also volunteered at Canine Assistants for many years where she helped train dogs to become service dogs for others in need.

Jes and Mike both enjoyed gardening, whether flowers or vegetables, and maintained a very large garden at their Minnesota home where Jessi enjoyed baking many desserts and breads using the rhubarb, zucchini and raspberries from their garden. She also canned tomatoes and raspberry jam, that she enjoyed sharing with family and friends. Jes and Mike would enjoy the potatoes, squash, onions, peppers and other vegetables they grew throughout the fall and winter months.

Jessi was a devout Catholic and active in various ministries throughout her life. She was the spiritual rock of the family who had a devotion to the rosary and ensured her children understood their faith. She did this by reading to them from the Bible, books of the saints, completing daily readings with them during Advent and Lent and encouraging them to get involved with the church as well. She even taught her children’s Sunday School classes. This devotion to sharing the faith with her family continued into the kids’ adult years as Mike and Jessi have enjoyed completing many bible studies with their kids utilizing Facetime to connect.

Jessica is preceded in death by her mother, Mary Berg; Sister-in-law Suzanne (Kevin) O’Brien and brother-in-law Jeff O’Brien.

She is survived by her husband, Mike; her children Carleen O’Brien (special friend David), Sean O’Brien (fiancée Nicole), and Casey (Phillip) Barbee; her father Leslie Berg; her siblings Andrew Berg, Sean (Kimberly) Berg, and Alexandra Stevenson; her sisters-in-law Janis (Les) Buesgens, Nancy O’Brien and brothers-in-law Kevin (Peach) O’Brien, Mark (Mary) O’Brien, Rob O’Brien and Dennis (Denise) O’Brien.

A visitation will be held at Hodges-Kiser Funeral Home, located at 9231 Cypress Lake Drive, Fort Myers, FL 33919, on December 16, 2025, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

There will be a short visitation followed by a funeral mass will be held at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church on December 17, 2025, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Memorial luncheon to follow in Xavier hall.

There will be a memorial visitation held at The church of Saints Peter and Paul, located at 110 Central Ave N, Richmond MN 56368 on Tuesday January 13, 2026 from 9:00 am to 11:15 am. A memorial mass will be held at the same location beginning at 11:30 am until 12:30 pm.