Conan O’Brien has paid tribute to the remarkable lives of his parents, Dr. Thomas O’Brien and Ruth Reardon O’Brien, following their recent deaths just days apart.
Dr. Thomas O’Brien passed away on Monday, December 9, after a period of declining health, according to The Boston Globe. Describing Dr. O'Brien as a "visionary who addressed dangers of antimicrobial resistance", the Globe added that his "health had been failing".
Three days later, his wife Ruth died "peacefully" on December 12, as noted in her obituary shared by Bell-O’Dea Funeral Home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Thomas was 95, and Ruth was 92. The couple had been married for 66 years.
In obituaries written for The Globe, Conan, 61, described his father as "the dreamer" and his mother as "the realist" in their enduring partnership.
"My dad was the one who was saying, 'I’m off to Peru with a change of clothes in my briefcase to try and launch this website for a hospital there high in the mountains,'" Conan shared.
Thomas O’Brien was a pioneering researcher in antimicrobial drug resistance and served as the first director of the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His work often took him across the globe, sometimes with his family in tow. Conan fondly remembered a seventh-grade trip to South America, a moment he credits with sparking his love of travel.
"He thought, ‘You’re going to learn more traveling through these various neighborhoods and cities in South America for a week and a half than you will in public school in Brookline.’ I think he put the travel bug in me,” Conan said.
Meanwhile, Ruth forged an iconic career of her own, becoming the second woman partner at the prestigious law firm Ropes & Gray, all while managing a busy household.
“As my dad was rushing around doing this incredible work, my mom was the one who really saw to it when we were little kids that we were fed and our clothes were laid out, and that we got to our dental appointments and medical appointments," Conan continued in his tribute.
The couple's commitment to hard work and discipline left a lasting impression on their children. "I think what my mother and father saw in each other was that they were kindred spirits," Conan reflected.
Thomas and Ruth married in 1958 and built a life together filled with both professional achievement and family devotion. They raised five children: sons Justin, Neal, and Luke, and daughters Kate and Jane. The couple also had nine grandchildren, including two of Conan’s children with his wife, Liza Powel O’Brien.
A funeral service for both Thomas and Ruth was held on Wednesday, December 18, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where family and friends gathered to honor their memory.
Our thoughts go out to O'Brien's family at this time.
