I was mesmerized by a death notice my eyes fell on in the Detroit Free Press. Jean Marie O’Brien had lived a life out of the media spotlight for 101 years, till COVID-19 came.
Then, she caught the virus in a nursing home in Livonia, and seven of her eight surviving children drove from states across the country, from as far as Seattle and New York, to be with their Mom. The Washington Post noticed, as did several TV stations.
She hung in there and beat the virus — but it took its toll, and on June 26, she finally died. The media was struck by her family’s devotion – but they missed the story of this incredible woman’s life.
Not only did she die during one pandemic – she was born in Pittsburgh during another – the Spanish flu of 1918. She survived that, and grinding poverty during the Great Depression. She fell in love and was engaged to a young man who was killed during World War II. When the war ended, she met his younger brother Regis, a U.S. Marine who survived Iwo Jima, and married him instead.
They came to Michigan; she had nine children while living in a three-bedroom house with a single bathroom, and somehow it all worked out – until her husband was killed by a hit-and-run driver.
Nevertheless, she persisted. She fulfilled her lifelong dream; went to college and earned a degree with honors in gerontology at 64, and went to work for a hospice, one that later helped her.
Her death inspired her children to begin a campaign to draw attention to conditions in nursing homes. I’ve met a lot of congressmen; I think I would have gotten more out of an interview with this amazing woman who never sought the spotlight.
However, as Jean O’Brien died, she did have one request to make of her fellow citizens, according to her death notice: “Since she will not be able to cast her vote in November, her wish was that you support Joe Biden.” If he isn’t honored by that, I’d be surprised.
— Jack Lessenberry
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