William O'Brien

William O'Brien, aged 89, of South Weymouth passed away surrounded by his loving family on May 19th 2013. He was a WWII veteran (Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe) and a former employee of the Gillette Company. Bill was the devoted Husband of Margaret (Dwyer) O’Brien, the loving father of William O’Brien and his wife Lauretta, Maureen Rooney and her husband Desmond, and Steven O’Brien and his wife Marie. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Sean, Tyrone, Clifton, Abigail, William, Kyle, Sarah, Erin and many great-grandchildren.
Bill is preceded by his parents James and Marion (Hagan), his sister, Mary and his brothers, James and Frank.
He is interred at the National Veteran's Cemetery in Bourne, following a private funeral service at the C. C. Shepherd Funeral Service in South Weymouth.
In lieu of flowers or donations, please read the following. If you would like to leave a message for the family please click on the candle
Thank you for visiting and honoring the memory of my dad, Bill O’Brien. I could write about memories that we all have of our parents – a favorite birthday or Christmas gift, an early memory of a first school day, the first car, a visit to the zoo, camping, and fishing – the list could go on and on. One night last week I recalled three events that came to mind that have helped to make me the person I am today.
The first was July 21 1961 and the dreaded New York Yankees had come to Fenway. This was THE year of Mantle and Maris. It was standing room only and Fenway was electric with anticipation. The home team started with Bill Monbouquette against Whitey Ford. In the first inning both Maris (home run number 36) and Mantle homered and the old park rocked – where did all of these Yankee fans come from? I found myself also cheering – for the grand old sport. The Sox tied it in the second and the game was on. In the third Yogi hit a 2 run homer and I will forever remember the smile on his face as he rounded third. In the bottom of the fifth the Sox scored 4 runs to take the lead and knock Whitey out of the game. In the ninth with the Sox leading 8-6 the Yankees scored another run but still trailed 8 to 7. The Yankees loaded the bases and sent Johnny Blanchard as a pinch hitter to bat. He hit a grand slam and the game was effectively over – Yankees 11 Red Sox 8. It was the greatest game I ever attended. My father probably did not have the same memory of the game and maybe that is the lesson. You may never know if spending time with someone you love or a simple act or word of kindness will have an effect on a person that they carry forever. I remember the game as if it happened yesterday – all was right in the world and I knew that I was loved. So, tell someone close to you that you love them.
The second was during the summer (it may have been that same summer) and my friends and I had pulled out our rod tabletop hockey games and the tournament was on. There were 2 brothers who lived a few houses from us – Richard was my age and his younger brother John, who was mentally challenged and just one of the guys. John loved to play but could never win a game but no one cared – we were just having summer fun. After watching us one day, my dad pulled me aside and said that John may want to win once in a while and we should be careful not to take advantage of him. I never really thought about it and we did not think that we were taking advantage of him. The next day I let John win and the yells of “I won, I won” will be forever ingrained in my memory – and I felt pretty good. My father had a strong belief that we should help those in need who truly are God’s children.
The third memory was my Dad’s love for my mother. He never raised his voice to my mother and always thought of her first. I was now a teenager who knew it all, when one day I talked back to my mother and was generally disrespectful. My father gently grabbed my arm (I never remember him hitting me) and told me that she was my mother but she was also his wife and he would be with her long after I left the house and made my own way in life and I will be respectful. The love he showed my mother may have come from being in Europe during World War II when his mother passed away and he could not attend her services or when his sister passed at an early age. These two women had a profound influence on how he thought of women. I think he believed that women are the bedrock of society and home, and we should show them respect and love.
I don’t know if I have communicated what these three events meant to me but if you have come this far and have finished reading, then you know what to do to honor the memory of my father.
Thanks Dad, I love you and miss you.
Bill