Mary Irene O'Brien

Mary Irene (Melavin) O’Brien, 92, of Dubuque, passed away peacefully Saturday, December 28, 2013 at Oak Park Place.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held Thursday, January 2 at Holy Ghost Catholic Church with Rev.  Dwayne Thoman officiating. Burial was in Mount Olivet Cemetery with military rites by the American Legion Post 6.   Hoffmann Schneider and Kitchen Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 3860 Asbury Road is in charge of arrangements.
Mary Irene was born June 5, 1921, daughter of Thomas and (Alberta (Melavin) Cavanaugh. Mary Irene was raised by her beloved grandmother, Josephine Melavin.  Mary Irene moved frequently with her grandmother as the two of them struggled during the Depression. Josephine looked for work and good places to raise Mary Irene. Those were very lean and unforgiving years that taught Mary Irene a fierce sense of independence and a resiliency to hard times that is tough for the younger generations to even comprehend.
Mary Irene moved to Dubuque during her teen-age years finding work as in-home childcare. At the outset of World War II, she began working for the Dubuque Packing Plant. The “Pack” had begun major production of canned meat for the military, and Mary Irene became part of the war effort.
While working at the Pack, Mary Irene saw an advertisement for a new branch of the U.S. Navy that was for women only. The Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES) appealed to Mary Irene’s sense of adventure and patriotism. She joined the WAVES in 1944 taking her oath at the old Dubuque Post Office, which doubled as a recruiting station. Mary Irene and her sister, Elizabeth “Betty” traveled to Hunter College in New York City to attend boot camp. Mary Irene remembered most the marching practice in the New York heat and the starched white uniforms of the WAVES recruits.
After graduating boot camp, Mary Irene was sent to Farrugut, ID to work supporting a German POW camp at the base. Mary Irene held the rank of Storekeeper and worked clerical duties. Mary Irene’s next assignment was at Treasure Island, CA, which was a major hub for military personnel serving in the Pacific Theater. Mary Irene loved her time at Treasure Island and would talk fondly of San Francisco for the rest of her life.
Mary Irene served two tours of duty in the WAVES and was assigned to Treasure Island when the war ended with Japan. Mary Irene remembered the clerical staff working 24/7 making travel arrangements for military personnel returning from the Pacific Theater. No matter how remote the location home, it was up to Mary Irene and her co-workers to find them transportation to as near their front doors as possible.  For her work, Mary Irene received a commendation signed by President Harry S. Truman.
Mary Irene and her grandmother were originally from the Harpers Ferry area. It was in Harpers Ferry that Mary Irene first met a skinny, shy boy named Raymond O’Brien. Mary Irene used to laugh that Ray was so skinny that it became perilous to stand too close when he was wearing overalls for fear of the unexpected views. Ray had served in the U.S. Army in the European Theater and was discharged before Mary Irene. They had written to each other during the War and the sparks stayed kindled. Ray proposed to Mary Irene and she made the decision to leave the WAVES and become a wife and mother.  Mary Irene received her honorable discharge in 1947.
Mary Irene and Ray were married July 27, 1947 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry. They moved to Dubuque in 1950 and eventually bought a house at 2760 Central Avenue, where they raised eight children. They remained on Central Avenue until Ray’s death March 29, 2011.
Mary Irene and Ray were blessed with 63 years of marriage. Not all of it easy, but then it never is. Mary Irene used her own difficult childhood to find ways to make it work raising eight children on one paycheck and a meager one at that during the early years. Mary Irene was a tireless worker with a tremendous work  ethic that she passed on to her children.  Mary Irene’s hands were never idle in the home and she maintained her keen curiosity about the world by being a voracious reader. Mary Irene remained devoted to Ray throughout his final illness and continued on after his death with the resiliency she earned the hard way.
Mary Irene is survived by her children, Dennis (Gwen) O’Brien, David O’Brien, Raymond (Fe) O’Brien, Richard (Naomi) O’Brien, Linda (Clark) Wolff, Joann (Bailey) Williams, and Julie (Robin Clark) O’Brien; 13 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Mary Irene is also survived by her siblings, Theresa and Cecilia.
Mary Irene was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond O’Brien Sr., March 29, 2011, and a daughter, Susan O’Brien. She was also preceded in death by her grandmother, Josephine; parents; siblings, Elizabeth, Paul, Maureen and Jean and; a daughter-in-law, Fran O’Brien.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Very Special Arts.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.hoffmannschneiderfuneralhomes.com.