Mr. O’Brien is preceded in death by his wife Muriel (Thyben) O’Brien and is survived by two children: Susan (O’Brien) Wrenn of Haverhill, MA and Thomas O’Brien of Scituate, MA, and six nieces and nephews. He is also the brother to the late Edward L. O’Brien and the late Virginia (O’Brien) Curly.
Gene was a veteran of World War II, where he served in the U.S. Army in the Philippines from April 1946 to April 1947. Upon discharge, he held the rank of sergeant. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, the second son of Edward L. O’Brien and Mary (Higgins) O’Brien. As a child, he attended the former St. Leonard’s Academy in Bushwick and followed his older brother Edward into military service. Both brothers served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Following the war, Gene earned a college degree at the University of Missouri in Columbia. He returned to New York and married former child model and dancer Muriel Thyben, of Malverne, New York, in 1957. The couple settled in Smithtown, New York, where they raised their family. In 1991, they retired to Hobe Sound, Florida. After his wife passed in 1997, Gene continued to live in the Hobe Sound/Stuart area for two decades.
Gene was a career sales representative for the beverage industry and had a lifelong passion for the stock market. He was a member of St. Christopher’s Parish of Hobe Sound, Florida, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #10132, also in Hobe Sound.
A memorial mass will be held on Saturday, February 1 at 11am at St. Lucy’s Church in Methuen, MA, and will be followed by a celebration of life.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.8.18