Rusty O'Brien

Russell Lyman O’Brien, age 55, of Prospect, Kentucky, departed this life on Saturday, January 25, 2025. Rusty was born in St. Louis, Missouri on October 6, 1969. He met and fell in love with his wife Vicki at 16 years old and they have been married for almost 32 years. Rusty attended Brigham Young University and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. He is the loving father of four children and spent his life as a faithful and devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He proudly served a two-year church mission in Venezuela and has fulfilled many responsibilities for his congregation - his favorite calling was always primary teacher to his children.

Rusty worked for twenty-six years as an immigration lawyer. He cared deeply for his clients, their families, and he was a passionate believer in the American Dream. The firm he founded and grew to prominence, O’Brien Law Group, exemplified his deep commitment to those values. He was an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), serving two terms as Mid-South Chapter Chair and as a national liaison. Rusty regularly represented clients before the Immigration Service (USCIS and ICE), Immigration Courts (EOIR), Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and numerous U.S. consulates and embassies abroad.

He filled his life with adventure. He travelled to five continents, competed in numerous triathlons and cycling races, and spent every free moment in the summer doing watersports with his family. Within just the past few years, Rusty traversed across the Grand Canyon on foot, joined a book club, made countless new friends and learned, alongside his family, to backcountry ski, flyfish, sail, make tortillas, ride motorcycles, clear the wake on a wakeboard, and speak Russian. More than anything he yearned to be outside and active with his family and friends.

He leaves to cherish his memory, his loving wife of 31 years, Vicki Renae O’Brien; children, Meg Kathryn Barnes (Tré), Benjamin Russell O’Brien, Samuel Mark O’Brien, and Molly Renae O’Brien; mother, Kathy Blackwell Cross (Tom); sisters, Michelle Martin (Jeff), Lori Lynn Strawbridge (Ian J. Aebel), and Kimberly Gonzalez (Henry); many treasured aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. His father, Michael O’Brien, preceded him in death.

Family and friends may pay their respects on Friday, January 31, 2025 from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm at the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (6401 Westwind Way, Crestwood, KY 40014). The funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at the same location with a private burial to follow at Floydsburg Cemetery at Duncan Memorial Chapel.

The funeral service will be zoomed: https://zoom.us/j/91924528361