Lorraine Catherine O'Brien

Lorraine Catherine O’Brien, age 91, passed away on February 8, 2024 surrounded by family at Transitions LifeCare in Raleigh, NC. Born on January 23, 1933 in College Point, New York; she was the daughter of the late Martin Shuart and Henrietta Neumann Shuart and wife of the late James Michael O’Brien.

After their marriage in 1952 James and Lorraine moved from New York City to upstate New York. They lived in a few different cities in the Albany Capital region until finally settling in Clifton Park, NY where they lived for 32 years. Lorraine was a stay at home mom with a few part time jobs but when her youngest was of school age she decided to join the workforce full time. She worked for Saratoga County in their accountant department until she retired. After retirement, James and Lorraine made the move to North Carolina to be closer to family and enjoy retirement traveling.

Lorraine enjoyed gardening and feeding the animals in her yard. She loved watching the hummingbirds, cardinals and squirrels visiting throughout the year and even had named a few of them. James and Lorriane were very devoted to their faith and volunteered many hours to St. Mary’s of Crescent, NY and St. Mary Magdalene of Apex, NC.

Her husband only had the chance to travel for a few years until he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, after a brave but short fight he passed away in 2007. Her focus after that was to travel to visit family as much as possible or have family come visit her. She even arranged for two Family Cruise vacations so the entire family could be together during happy times and create memories. She would famously say come visit me when I am alive and not when I am dead and with that she made sure to live her life that way. Family was her true treasure and she loved when her house was filled with food, love and laughter. We honored her last few days on Earth with her family surrounding her with stories, laughter and even had our traditional large Sunday dinner.

She is survived by her children: Michael and Debra O’Brien, William and Jann O’Brien, Lorianne and Stewart Ludwig, Patricia and Darren O’Hanlon; and son-in-law: Lester Jewell, Grandchildren David, Matthew, Sara, Christina, Ashley, Krista, Michelle, Jack, Shawn, Stewart, Jessica, and Claire and her many great grandchildren.

Lorraine was preceded in death by her parents, her husband James, her brother Martin, and her daughter Eileen Jewell in November 2023.

Services will be held privately by her family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in her honor to the Military Missions in Action or Catholic Charities of Raleigh.

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