Gwendolyn O'Hearn

At 9:45AM, on Sunday, September 13, 2026, Gwendolyn Jones O’Hearn, 94, of Louisville, KY, departed on her final journey surrounded by Family and the compassionate staff of Green Valley Care Center in New Albany, IN. The patience, reverence, respect, dignity and compassion displayed by the “A Team” was unsurpassed. We are forever grateful.

Gwen was born in Irvin , KY on September 4, 1932.

The youngest of three daughters, Gwen graduated Magna Cum Laude in three years, from Eastern Kentucky University. She was an English major, an avid and voracious reader. James A. Mitchner was her favorite author. She could devour his lengthy works in two or three days. Emily Dickinson, her favorite poet. And Shakespeare the Master.

Gwen taught English Core at Valley, Western & Waggener High Schools in the 1960s & 1970s. After concluding this chapter of her life, she became a self-taught locksmith for the Housing Authority of Louisville for numerous years. Gwen was an optimist and a hopeless romantic. The theatre, music, literature and her children, consumed and sustained her.

“Camelot” with Richard Burton and/or Richard Harris as King Arthur, “The Music Man”, “The King & I”, “South Pacific”, “Mary Poppins”, “Westside Story”, “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, anything with Katherine Hepburn, “To Sir With Love”, “Dr. Zhivago”, etc…; whimsy, imagination & romance.

She was eclectic in her musical preferences…all vinyl, of course. We were exposed to Gershwin and Copeland, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Lowe, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter, Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin, Roy Orbinson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Bob Dylan, Patsy Cline, Hank Wlliams, George Jones, Barbara Streisand, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Llyod Webber just to name a few

We were surrounded by music and literature. Piano playing resonated from our house throughout the day unless we were roaming the neighborhood. Gwen planted Pansies, Zinnias, Tulips, Marigolds and Roses yearly. However, the Bleeding Heart was her favorite after the violent murder of her daughter Becky and the loss of her son Patrick in a fatal car accident at Cochran Tunnel. Her heart was forever broken.

Gwen had conviction, determination, fortitude, and resourcefulness. She lived by her wits and true grit. She was a survivor. Humble & kind, she’s the “real deal”!!! A free spirit and restless soul, the poem “IF” by Rudyard Kipling exemplified her life. It was her essence and a testament to her soul; she marched to the beat of her own drummer (“Invictus”).

Gwen was married to Charles O’Hearn (Helen). She was proceeds in death by her mother and father, Rupard Scobee & Beulah Bryan Jones, her two sisters, Sylvia Keeton and Faye Baird, her daughter Rebecca Bryan O’Hearn, her son, Patrick Scobee O’Hearn, and her grandsons, Casey Michael O’Hearn and Andrew Seth O’Hearn.

She is survived by her daughter Kathleen O’Hearn-O’Bryan, Kelley Alexis Lopez (Luis), sons Charles Michael O’Hearn (Caroline), Jarrett Franklin O’Hearn, granddaughters Sydney Rebecca O’Bryan Anthony (Matt), Jessica Nicole O’Hearn (Rod), Kyla Brienne O’Hearn Ph.D, Kloe Alexis Lopez, her grandsons Charles Michael O’Hearn (Jennifer), Nicholas Ryan O’Hearn, Benjamin Scobee O’Hearn (Sarah), Roma Luis Lopez, Jarrett O’Hearn (Zachary) and great granddaughter Veda Willow O’Hearn.

“We are less than a drop in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea. But it seems that some of the drops sparkle. Some of them DO sparkle.” – “Camelot”

Gwen did sparkle! She was weary and exhausted but she still shone.

She went the distance.

See you in the After, Granny.

We love your guts!

In lieu of flowers, the Family recommends a donation to the Louisville Free Public Library in honor of Gwendolyn O’Hearn or Kosair Children’s Hospital, in honor of Rebecca “Becky” O’Hearn.