Marilyn Elizabeth O'Brien

Marilyn E. (Smith) O’Brien Feb. 15, 1929 – July 23, 2017 Marilyn was born on February 15, 1929, in Detroit, Mich., the second child of Millard and Marion Smith. Aside from a personality filled with warmth and humility, Marilyn was a loving and devoted wife and mother whose generosity, wisdom and perspective was an inspiration to many. As a child growing up in Birmingham, Mich., Marilyn attended Shrine of the Little Flower. She graduated in 1950 from Michigan State University with a degree in education. In 1951, she married Robert “Bob” O’Brien, in Royal Oak, Mich. With Bob serving in the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Marilyn worked as an elementary school teacher in nearby Newbern. By the summer of 1952, the couple was renting an apartment on San Francisco’s Jackson Street. In a span of 10 years, Marilyn gave birth to four sons and two daughters. Whether she was changing diapers, comforting an all-night fever, or organizing themed birthday parties, she made it look easy. The family of eight moved to Portland in late 1966. Unfazed by a house consumed by kids, Marilyn set up an in-home seamstress business, serving a growing number of families seeking hand-sewn dresses, bridal gowns, and theater costumes. Marilyn had a can-do approach for whatever the challenge. She was the steady hand and stable heart. Compliment her and she’d reply with warmth and sincerity to praise you right back. Cool under pressure and always graceful, she was rarely frazzled or deterred. Marilyn was a woman with rich instinct and clear perspective. Marilyn is preceded in death by her husband Bob, and survived by four sons and two daughters: Sharon ‘”Shelly’” Virden and her husband Don of Vancouver, Wash., Michael of Scottsdale, Ariz., Christopher and his wife Katherine of Lake Oswego, Robert, Jr., of Portland, Mary and her partner Terry of San Francisco, and Daniel of Portland; 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She’s preceded in death by brother Millard Thorn, Jr., and sister Sally Criger. She’s survived by sisters Joan Smith of Montclair, N.J. and Katherine Bell of Ft. Myers, Fla. Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations in her remembrance be made to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul or Meals on Wheels. A private burial will be at Finley-Sunset Hills Memorial Park on July 27, which is coincidentally the same date Marilyn’s husband, Bob, passed away in 2014. A mass and reception in memory of Marilyn will begin at 2 p.m., Mon., July 31 at St. Pius X, Portland.