She never regretted her decision to move to quiet, little Orleans on Cape Cod from big, noisy Dorchester in 1956. Mary and her family started in a two-bedroom, one-bath Cape Cod house on a dirt road with only three other houses, all “summer people,” at the time.
She spent many years making home-cooked meals for four kids seven days a week, ferrying children to ball games and school activities and driving them on their paper routes in bad weather.
She and her husband, Edward, a school teacher who predeceased her, eventually built two other homes overlooking Orleans Town Cove. Later, she enjoyed traveling around the United States, Canada and China and making numerous trips to Europe, from the Northern Lights of Iceland to the islands of Greece.
Mary, a registered nurse, worked locally and stayed active into her 80s as a volunteer at the French Cable Museum.
She loved books, newspapers, crossword puzzles, Scrabble and “Jeopardy” and she treasured the services of Snow Public Library. She was an avid candlepin bowler and a prolific knitter and needle pointer.
Her survivors include four children: Mark (Barbara) O’Brien of Pensacola, Fla.; Robert O’Brien (Patricia Bradley) of Orleans; David O’Brien of Orleans; and Jeannie O’Brien (Lisa Updike) of McAdoo, Pa.; a sister, Doris Norton of Scarborough, Maine; four grandchildren: Katie (Patrick) Hitt of Nashville, Tenn., Daniella Bradley O’Brien of Orleans; Sarah O’Brien (Terry Nagurney) of Charlottesville, Va.; Alex Bradley O’Brien of Orleans; three great-grandchildren: Amelia and Mallory Hitt and Fred Nagurney; and many loving nieces and nephews.
To honor her memory please perform an act of kindness and/or make a donation to the charity of your choice.
