Stephen J. O'Brien

Steve was born at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing on June 30, 1950, the third child and first son of The Hon. John P. O’Brien and Mary Catherine O’Brien. He was preceded in death by his parents and by his oldest sister, Mary Anne Gale (Robert) of Cheboygan, MI. He is survived by eight siblings: Patricia M. Coyle of Missoula, Montana, J. Kevin (M. Louann) of Mason, Daniel T. (Cyndi) of Belleville, MI., Michael C. (Kristen Baggett) of Cheboygan, MI., Dennis E. (Patti) of Mason, Richard E. (Marcia) of Mason, T. Jerome of Cedarville, MI., and John P. (Kelly) of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Also surviving are 19 nieces and nephews and 15 grandnieces and grandnephews.

Steve graduated from Mason High School in 1968, and has since enjoyed close, enduring friendships through yearly class reunions. The O’Brien family spent summers and many vacations in Grand Marais, MI., where Steve also made many memories and life-long friendships.

Steve attended Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI. and Lansing Community College. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University.

He was an entrepreneur, having owned a service station at Holt Road and US 127. He also was a very early member of the Mason Downtown Development Authority (DVA). Steve later went into sales doing design and build work and then real estate sales. He worked in the IT field for many years with The State of Michigan and with IBM. He was an expert in many computer fields, such as network engineering, and held numerous national certifications.

He lived in Texas for a few years and was a salesman for an outdoor grill manufacturer and also did sports photography, which was another expertise of Steve’s. He started his own IT firm, Computer Information Technologies and ran that until he became too ill.

Being the eldest of eight brothers, he set the bar high with his work ethic: working in landscaping; working in a local restaurant on Sundays with his friends and brothers; having a paper route; and helping his father care for the large Victorian O’Brien family home.

He was an exceptional student and especially loved math and the sciences. He drew detailed drawings of planes, boats, military vehicles and other items in grade school after completing his entire math book for the whole year. Steve was a classic big brother and stood up for his siblings even when they didn’t know it.

He also was a private pilot and enjoyed flying for several years until his plane lost oil pressure on the way to a yearly experimental air show in Oshkosh, WI, when he had to execute an emergency crash landing in a corn field after crossing Lake Michigan. He didn’t fly a plane again after that trip even though he and his passenger had only slight injuries. He also was passionate about classic autos, including his amazing Jaguar, motorcycles, skiing, bicycling, hunting and other sports, plus great music and entertaining.

Steve had a giant heart and helped numerous people in the Vietnamese community when they arrived in Mason, sponsored by the area churches. He helped with communication, legal paperwork and support whenever needed and continued this until his last hospitalization. He also made numerous great friends in the local Chinese community with his expertise and friendliness.

The O’Brien family is very thankful to all his friends, classmates and especially to our Durner cousins, who have always been there for all Steve’s family and stood by him in his final weeks and days.

The Sparrow Specialty Hospital staff was tremendous in their care, compassion, empathy and sympathy to Steve and his family. Fresenius Medical Care provided a remarkable level of care to Steve for years, for which his family is extremely grateful.

A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, July 18, 2020 at 11am at St. James Catholic Church, 1010 S Lansing Street in Mason. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the Mass, and on Friday, July 17 from 4pm until 6pm at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, Mason Chapel, 621 S. Jefferson St. in Mason.

Interment in Maple Grove Cemetery will follow the Mass.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in Steve’s name can be made to the Knights of Columbus 9182 Scholarship Fund.