My Dearest Michael,
As we approach the anniversary of our loss I felt compelled to sit down one more time and put some of this love into words.  Gosh Mike, in your loss some wonderful things have been found.  I know there have been a few times that you had to be saying "So you couldn't do this while I was with you to enjoy it?!"  (Although Cher and I both know you are sitting back with a smirky grin whenever we are together)  Not a day this whole year has not gone by that I didn't either hear a song or maybe read an inappropriate email or article that didn't make me pause and visualize you smiling.  You died a very rich man my friend because so many called you friend and friends are the true wealth we accumulate here on earth.  Save us a seat and a nice warm cuddle until we meet again.  I love you, now and always! Today I had a patient say "you bring a smile into an otherwise mundane life" and all I could think of is boy oh boy that sure was a Mikey kind of compliment!  See, you are with me always!  Again I love you...like it or not!  Sal  xoxoxoxo

I wish I could pick up the phone to wish you a Happy Birthday, Mikey.  

If there are fountains in heaven, may you be putting soap bubbles in them.  If there are birds in cages, may you be setting them free.  If there's a juke box, may you always have a pocketful of quarters.  

I miss you, my friend.  

Cheers.

My Dear Dear friend Mike,  I miss you and will always remember you.  Heaven now has a very sarcastic ANGEL.  Until we meet again....... Cathy Madia Addari

July 30, 2010
 Hello, on behalf of our family, we’d like to thank you for coming to remember our Uncle Mike.  I am Janet, this is Jennifer and Katie.  We are Marty’s daughters.  Mike’s three nieces.  I am “one of the twins” or Thing 2, as Uncle Mike affectionately referred to me.  Jennifer and I were always Thing 1 and Thing 2.  My mom says that the very first time that Uncle Mike met us he called us Thing 1 and Thing 2, the characters for Dr. Seuss’s “The Cat in the Hat.”  My mom thought, “Are you kidding me, they’re just babies.”  Well the nicknames stuck, probably because it drove our mom crazy.  We kind of liked it.  We have Thing 1 and Thing 2 ornaments that hang on our Christmas trees.
 Uncle Mike was a jokester.  He was always making us laugh with his sarcastic nature.  He had a way of saying things very nonchalantly, almost under his breath, and always at just the right moment, or wrong moment, and we found ourselves often getting in trouble with Uncle Mike.  He would get us all riled up or crack jokes, especially when we were supposed to be on our “best behavior,” like when we were sitting in church or saying grace at the dinner table.  One time, when Katie was probably five or six years old, Uncle Mike decided to join us for midnight mass on Christmas Eve.  We were here, at Our Lady of Loretto, and we were all handed candles when we arrived at church that night.  Now, my mom was already nervous about us girls having candles in church, but then you add Uncle Mike to the mix…do you see where this is going?  Katie wound up singeing her bangs with the flame from the candle because she and Uncle Mike were being silly in church.  
 Despite all of the trouble we seemed to get into with Uncle Mike, when I was little, I thought Uncle Mike was so cool.  He lived on the Northside, which was pretty impressive to a little girl who lived in Hometown.  He seemed to always be taking a trip.  He traveled to so many different places.  I couldn’t wait to get older so I could travel like he did.  I’ll never forget the time he had traveled to New York.  He brought me a Statue of Liberty pencil sharpener.  I remember thinking that was one of the neatest gifts I had ever received.  I was probably six years old and what an impression that small gesture made on me.
 When we girls talk about Uncle Mike, our conversations never end without the mention of two things, Frango Mints and Morgan the Cat.  We have a love/hate relationship with these two things.
 When we moved from Chicago to Arizona 22 years ago, Uncle Mike started a new tradition.  Every year, for Christmas, he would send each of us a box of Frango Mints.  At first the package would contain boxes of the original mints, but then Uncle Mike started to change it up a bit.  He would send caramels and toffees, but always a box of the originals.  We girls always looked forward to seeing which box of mints Uncle Mike would send.  It became a staple to our Christmas holiday.  Christmas just won’t be the same without Uncle Mike’s Frango Mints.
 Now on to memories we probably would love to forget…Morgan the Cat!  We were pretty young when we were first introduced to Morgan the Cat and it seems like Uncle Mike had Morgan forever.  While Uncle Mike was very fond of Morgan, Morgan was not very fond of anyone, it seemed.  When we would go to visit Uncle Mike, Morgan would hiss at us and chase us all around.  Katie has vivid memories of Morgan scratching her.  That being said, Morgan was pretty scary to three little girls.  Today, the three of us are not really cat people.  I think we have Uncle Mike and Morgan to thank for that.
 Uncle Mike has definitely left his mark on the three of us and he will be greatly missed.
 I want to close with a brief story.  It will be 15 years, this November, since my dad, Marty, passed away.  After his death, I began to notice rainbows in the sky during the most random moments.  On a bad day, driving home from work, a rainbow would appear in the sky.  When I’m contemplating a difficult decision, I look out and see a rainbow.  When I’m celebrating something great in my life, there’s that rainbow.  I believe with my whole heart, the rainbows are my dad, letting me know that he’s looking out for me, that he’s supporting me, or that he’s proud of me.  On Saturday night, July 24th, my family and I were at my mom’s house, swimming in her pool.  There were huge monsoon clouds in the sky over head.  We were pretty sure that it was going to storm.  In a split second, a rainbow appeared and the clouds dispersed.  At the time, I thought that it was just an awesome rainbow.  Now I’m certain that rainbow was my dad, welcoming his big brother with a huge hug and that wonderful smile.  Two brothers, together again.

I worked with Mikie for 10 years at NazDar. He was a dear, dear friend. He could always make me smile and found the good in everything. A true friend. He even came to visit me in AZ. He will be missed but never forgotten Rest in peace Mikie.
Joanne Bader

Michael O’Brien 
June 23, 1954 - July 24, 2010
I wasn’t sure how to start today, so I decided to start with the facts.  I’ll do my best to keep on track so that I don’t have to hear Mikey telling me, “Yes, it’s all about YOU, isn’t it?”  Mike O’Brien was a dear son, brother, uncle and great uncle, cousin, and friend.  He grew up in Chicago and Hometown, going to school in the little gray schoolhouse at 87th and Pulaski, then Gaddis, and on to Oak Lawn High School.  After living at 4055 W. 90th Place with Auntie Del and Uncle Bill, he  struck out on his own and lived at 55th and Laflin, 71st & Artesian, and then on the North Side at Eastlake Terrace & Howard and finally on Fargo a half a block off his beloved Lake Michigan for over 25 years.  He came home to 4055 again in 2009, where sadly, last week, he passed away.
He worked at several places over the years, starting at the sign shop at the 63rd & Halsted Sears, then on to their Orland Park store with the space age computerized cash registers.  He then worked the switchboard with actual plugs like Ernestine used at St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island, then Associated Material Handling with his Dad, and finally at Naz-Dar for the last almost 30 years where he was their resident computer whiz.  Many of his co-workers loved and admired him.  He was a perfectionist and usually could not rest until a job was done well and done right.  He could always be depended upon.  He tended bar for a period of time up in Rogers Park, where he made many long lasting friendships.
He was a very private person, but during this history, he was always true to his family and friends, whether they be local, in California, Arizona, or anywhere else.  Of course he was every Aunt’s, Uncle’s, and Grandmother’s favorite.  (At least to hear him tell it; although I believe that’s probably true.)  Oh, and an expert kitty keeper.  He really loved his kitties, Morgan and Hanna.  
In recent years, he went out to Hometown almost every weekend to “do his laundry”, but I know darn well that he was also looking in on Auntie Del and Uncle Bill to make sure they were OK, to take them to dinner, or just be there with them.  He always looked in on my folks when they were up in years and very ill, too, whether they were home or in the hospital.  And I know he’s always been there for me.  With both my parents gone and a recently deceased partner, I knew I could call him from the ER at 5a.m. when I was there with appendicitis.  And he just said, “What time do you need to be picked up” when it came time for my discharge.  I always counted on him to bring the BEST Irish Soda Bread from somewhere out here on the south side for our annual corned beef & cabbage at my house.  And he knew where to get the best bacon buns…drool… 
Anyway, Mike, or “Mikey”, as some of us like to call him, and I go way back; I was one when he was born and from as early as I can remember we played together.  As cousins, every summer we’d spend time at each others’ houses; I in Hometown and he with us on the North Side.  We always had lots of adventures.  His interest in, or some might say, obsession with, trains and public transportation, among other things, started as far back as when we were in grammar school.  We went everywhere back then, always on the CTA or suburban bus.  I really thought I had “arrived” when he took me on the suburban bus.  He’d take me to exotic places like the Colony Theater at 59th and Kedzie and the Coral on 95th, not to mention the ultra-modern M&R Evergreen Theater at the Plaza and on the north side we’d visit Riverview, Lincoln Park Zoo, the Prudential Building (then the tallest skyscraper in Chicago) or the Art Institute.  We loved it all.  I remember taking buses and trains all the way from Hometown to Old Orchard one time when we were about ten.  I don’t think there was a museum, movie theater, or department store in Chicago that we didn’t visit at one time or another and some we could have drawn you a blueprint of.  “Not a stone left unturned” we’d say in our later years.  And all of us always knew who to call if we needed directions on how to get anywhere, especially in the Chicagoland area, whether driving or on public transportation.
We were always into mischief but never got in trouble.  However, both being “natural born lever pullers”, as Ringo said in “Yellow Submarine”, when we were real little, we were known to occasionally mortify our parents by adjusting the volume on TV sets in department stores or, in Mikey’s case, by pushing all the doorbells on the doorbell display.  Repeatedly.  This was probably an indicator of his later curiosity and expertise with computers and anything electronic. He could take just about anything apart and put stuff back together; phones, appliances, anything.  He’d always be the one to call when you we setting up your stereo system or when it went haywire.  
Speaking of which, when we were little, we both had little record players and would play records ALL the time.  We went on from records to 8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, and I know he recently got an iPod.  For you kids, records were these flat back plastic discs that turned around on a turntable and were played by…oh, never mind.  His musical interests were diverse to say the least; from 45’s of girl groups and Gene Pitney, to the Beatles, his favorite Motown, Glitter Rock, 70’s and 80’s dance music, new age, to all kinds of blues, jazz, classical, and even some country.  He used to make mix tapes of great dance music that many of us still have.  He particularly liked dusties and old fashioned low down dirty blues where the ladies would sing about “sugar in their bowls” or “hot dogs in their rolls”.  And Mike knew about “nostalgia” before it was a craze.  Whether it was Glenn Miller music or old Franklin McCormick radio shows, he was all over it.  And these are just the tip of the iceberg.  
I haven’t mentioned that we were “Friends of Dorothy”, which, for those of you who don’t know, means we loved Judy Garland and “The Wizard of OZ”.  When it came to movies, his tastes were again very diverse.  From oldies like “Wizard of Oz”, “Wunderbar”, “The Gang’s All Here”, “The Women”, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane” and “The Bad Seed”, to more current faves, like Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” and all the “Toy Story”s, to more obscure films like “200 Cigarettes”, “Buddy Boy”, and all of the John Waters films.  Everything was usually a little twisted in some way, be it high camp or social abnormality.  A particular favorite of both of ours was a 60’s movie called “The Loved One”, which drove our parents nuts.  Ironically for today, it was about the funeral business.
The great thing about all these stories is that everyone here has similar and  unique ones that are equally as personal.  He was very special to all of us in some way.  In reading the comments people wrote on the Legacy.com website yesterday (where you can visit and read and leave your own thoughts and photos if you’d like- go to Legacy.com and search for Michael E. O’Brien), people had many words to describe our Mike; here are some random quotes;
“I remember summers and putting on backyard shows as kids”
“a true friend and real person”
“good times” 
“many friends” 
“always there for anyone” 
 “close to my heart”
“wonderful friend”
“Over the years one constant was always my Uncle Mike's love and friendship.”
 “quite a character”
“a caring and selfless person”
“one of the funniest people I've ever met”
 “sarcastic at times, but always with love.”
 “knew how to laugh and live and brought that with him every day.”
“ I am honored to have been his friend”
 “bringing people together”
“I am blessed to have known Mike”
and “kindred spirit”.
I know we all have memories of how special he made us feel, whether it was with that Christmas card in that unmistakable penmanship, that phone call, that email, that kind gesture that made us feel special, or simply his uncanny knack for conversation.  I remember years ago sitting around the table with him, Chuck, Cheryl, and my Mom drinking pot after pot of tea and talking all night.  I don’t remember what we talked about, but you can bet it was rich and it was fun.  I recall the same thing years later with Tommy, Jerome, and a host of others, but with cocktails instead of tea.  Probably something involving “Bailey’s” at some point.
Mike’s sense of humor and irony was infectious.  Even toward the very end, he maintained his composure and sense of humor and never complained.  I  was with him at Rush just a few weeks back and HE had ME laughing hysterically.  At  one point he told me a story about Cheryl mentioning that he should tell a certain part of his health history to the doctor, and he said, with a wry wave of the hand, “Oh let’s not go into all THAT.”
Like many of us, I have reached for the phone to give Mikey a call, or thought of forwarding him a funny or newsworthy email this week.  Sadly, we no longer have that option.  I know we will all miss him terribly and have fond memories of this very special man.  Again to quote from the website comments, “The world is a much better place having had him in it!   Mikey, we will always carry you in our hearts.”  And Auntie Dl & Uncle Bill, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

My Dear Forever Friend,
You have left us with a hole that will never again be full, But the more than 40 years of memories you left me are the best in the world.  You were there for so many of the times that mattered in life.  The laughter of the good times will ring in my heart forever Mikey...you know that don't you!  I ache with sadness for your family...and your friends who like me have a hole in their hearts.  Save us all room so that some day, once again, we can let the party begin!  Now and forever my forever friend.

We will miss seeing you come and go each day couldnt ask for better neighbors, glad you were. We will always look out for your Mom and Dad like you asked when you couldnt. Always will remeber your words.."mark my words that buddy will be a handful when shes a teen" so watch over that one for me ok. 
May the hearts of your loved ones be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together as they celebrate a life well lived.
You will be missed. Rest in peace Mike.

I met Mikey 27 years ago in Rogers Park. What a great time we used to have and what great memories - the whole gang hanging at the beach, at my mom's barber shop, going out, having parties, and my wedding. What a great sense of humor and love he had. And what a laugh. We love him very much and will miss him dearly. This Christmas just won't be the same without his little Christmas cards and great laugh. We wish the O'Brien family love, peace and the ability to remember their favorite Mikey stories to comfort them in these times. Our heart goes out to you.

I knew Michael from his days at NAZ-DAR, a wonderful friend. He will be missed.

I'll miss the twisted, funny emails- that only you would send. 
I'll miss the perfectly penned Christmas cards- inked in green and red. 
I'll miss your helpful answers, no longer a phone call away.  
I'll miss a friend I've grown to cherish, 
I wish you could have stayed.
Peace Michael, I'm going to miss you....

My mom Sally was good friends with Mike so he was my "Uncle" from day 1.  Back in those days it was Uncle Mike and Uncle Chuck and you couldn't ask for better uncles.  Over the years one constant was always my Uncle Mike's love and friendship.  Now a mom myself I only wish my kids would have gotten the chance to know him as I did.  Uncle MIke you will always be missed!!

Mike was a friend of mine for quite q few years.  Both being long time residents of Rogers Park, I enjoyed discussing local issues, going out for dinner, or just hanging out relaxing with him.  Mike had a wonderful personality and a great sense of humor.  He was quite a character.  Most importantly he was a caring and selfless person which I discovered soon after we met, especially these last several years.  What a wonder man.  I will always have fond memories of you and will miss you.  Peace Mikey.
God Bless the O'Brien family and friends.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Michael personally but I heard about him almost every day from my Mom who worked with him.  He was an Honorary Uncle to my kiddos and loved hearing stories about them.  Your St. Louis friends miss you dearly, MOB.  Rest in peace!

Truly one of the funniest people I've ever met.  Blessings on this next part of your journey Mike.--GP

Mike was a childhood friend who I was recently back in touch with thru facebook.  I remember him as a smiling, friendly, upbeat guy.  Rest in peace Mike.

My heart aches for Bill, Adele and Ellen. Mike was a wonderful son, brother, uncle and great uncle.It was always a bonus to visit Bill & Adele and see Mike's car as I arrived.True to his family and friends, he was always available for help or advice. He had a wonderful sense of humor, sarcastic at times, but always with love. Mike had many friends but I would especially like to mention both Jeff and Cheryl. Mike and Jeff were thick as thieves and Mike and Cheryl had a relationship that many people never get to experience in their lifetime. Bill, Del and Ellen, (and Jeff and Cheryl) my deepest sympathies. Mike I know you are looking down at us and saying " don't make such a fuss." Now stop fighting with Marty and keep a watch over your family! They need you to help them heal. We all loved you and miss you so much.
I will never forget the kind gentle person that was Mike O'Brien.
God bless the O'Brien family

My condolences to the O'Brien family on their loss.

Michael will always be in my heart and will miss him terribly.  He knew how to laugh and live and brought that with him every day.  I am honored to have been his friend and call him friend.  See ya Michael!

My prayers are with all of you.  I will always remember our summers and putting on backyard shows as kids.  So long my childhood friend.
Debbie Dobrowits Heitz, Hometown, IL

Mike and I were instant friends since first grade, at the "litle gray school house". I cannot tell you how much I will miss his humor, friendship and beautiful penmanship! We mostly emailed and wrote cards over the past 20 years, so his handwriting was always a treat to find in my mailbox. My prayers are with you all.
Carol Hepburn

We send our love & prayers to the O'brien family on the loss of their loved one Mihcael

Mikey was a kindred spirt of mine.  I am honored to have known him and to have loved him.  My sincere condolences to his family.  The world is a much better place with having him in it!  Mikey, I will always carry you in my heart.  Love ya, mean it!!  xoxo

Heartfelt condolences to Bill, Adele, Ellen, Jeff Glenn, and the rest of the O'Brien family.

Mike taught me what it meant to be a true friend and real person.  I have many great memories from the past 35 years, and I will miss him terribly.  Here's to you, Mikey.

Mike has been a friend of mine for almost 30 years. I have enjoyed many good times with him. I know he had many friends because he was always there for anyone. I will truly miss him and keep him close to my heart forever.

Michael you are missed very much my friend. Peace be with the O'Brien family.

Heartfelt condolences to Bill, Adele, Ellen, Jeff Glenn, and the rest of the O'Brien family.  

I was blessed to have known Mike.  He taught me the meaning of what it meant to be a true friend and real person.  I have so many great memories from the past 35 years and will miss him dearly.

OBITUARY

Michael E. O'Brien

June 23, 1954 – July 24, 2010

Blake-Lamb Funeral Home

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