Thomas and Ruth O’Brien, Epidemiologist and Lawyer and Parents of Conan O’Brien, Die Days Apart
Thomas and Ruth O’Brien, the parents of comedian and late night host Conan O’Brien, have died. Thomas, an epidemiologist, was 95, and Ruth, a lawyer, was 92. Dr. O’Brien died Monday and Mrs. O’Brien died Thursday. The New York Times reported the news.
Both O’Briens died in their home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Dr. O’Brien was the first director of the infectious diseases division at what is now known as Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Mrs. O’Brien was the second woman partner at Ropes & Gray law firm.
Dr. O’Brien was an early alarm-ringer about the danger of antimicrobial resistance. The Boston Globe reported he also worried about drug-resistant superbugs. “The problem of antimicrobial resistance is enormous because of the magnitude of the interconnecting global bacterial populations it involves,” he wrote in a 2021 World Health Organization report on the topic.
“It is intricate because of the diversity of resistance genes and genetic vectors responding to differing usage of antimicrobial agents on different parts of those populations in different parts of the world. It is also peculiarly circular since an attempt to cure one patient may eventually prevent cure of another,” he added.
He was one of the pioneers of databases that allowed physicians to quickly record and report outbreaks of antibiotic resistance, the Globe added. “Traveling the world, often to small hospitals in developing nations, he cultivated a network of physicians, researchers, and technicians whose observations and testing became part of a larger effort.”
Dr. O’Brien was also an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
Ruth O’Brien was one four women who graduated in the Yale Law School class of 1956. She began her career at Ropes & Gray soon after graduation, the firm shared on its website, and remained there until 1960, when she became pregnant with her first child. She rejoined the firm in a part-time capacity after staying home and raising her family for a decade.
Mrs. O’Brien returned to the firm full-time after the birth of her sixth child and became the firm’s second female partner in 1978. She retired in 1996.
The O’Briens raised their family in Brookline, Massachusetts. “Science has said there’s no such thing as perpetual motion, but my father was proof that that was wrong,” Conan O’Brien told the Boston Globe. “My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything — absolutely everything.”
“For the rest of my time on earth I will be hearing from people who want to talk with me about my dad,” he also said. “I’ve never met anyone like him, and he happens to be my father. If I met him randomly in a hotel lobby, I’d think, ‘Who the hell is this guy? He’s the most interesting person I’ve ever met.’”
Justin O’Brien, the pair’s youngest child, also told the publication, “My mother once said she thought he enjoyed her reunions more than she did. He really loved meeting people and hearing their stories and getting to know them in a very meaningful way.”
Thomas O’Brien was born Jan. 28, 1929, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He graduated from Mary E. Wells High School in Southbridge in 1946 and completed his undergraduate studies at College of the Holy Cross in 1950. He then moved on to Harvard Medical School, from which he graduated in 1954.
Ruth O’Briend was also born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. She graduated from South High School in 1949, from Vassar College in 1953, and from Yale Law School in 1956.
Thomas and Ruth O’Brien are survived by their children, Conan, Justin, Neal, Luke, Kate and Jane as well as by nine grandchildren, Neve, Beckett, Paget, Eamonn, Declan, Grace, Irene, Finn and Caitlin.
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