Jean Kelly O’Brien

Jean Kelly O'Brien

7/2/1932 ~ 2/23/2023

With profound sadness we announce the passing of the amazing Jean (Kelly) O’Brien, devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother, and friend to all. She left us to join her family in heaven, predeceased by her devoted husband, Jack O’Brien (2007), her daughters Karen O’Brien-Brady (1997) and Erin O’Brien-DiDia (2015).

An only child, born in Jersey City, New Jersey she was brought into this world by her parents Margaret (Canny) Kelly and  Gene Kelly.  Her father instilled in her a love of horseback riding and a keen sense of Irish skepticism. She proudly attended Saint Aloysius Academy in Jersey City, where she earned her Varsity letter in Equestrian and later in life attended Rutgers University.

Jean married the love of her life Jack O’Brien. Jean lived a full life as a wonderful mother, devoted wife, and homemaker.  Jean started her family in Clifton New Jersey and as they quickly outgrew the tiny cape moved on up to Wayne, New Jersey where she raised her 6 children with gusto. Kimberly place was the perfect place to raise her children along with all the many wonderful families on the block. The kids from the block are still close today and Jean would consider the kids her own. Wayne is where she and her husband worked in “townhall” for many years, meeting the most fantastic group of people while championing the town as the best place to raise a family!

Our Lady of the Valley in Wayne was her earliest social circle and place of worship. One of the first families involved in the beginning of OLV, she was a cheerleading coach, Girl Scout Leader, Carnival volunteer and involved in every aspect of the school which her children attended.

Jean was an avid skier, chaperoning the ski trips in town for many years. Never one to let grass grow under her feet, she took many recreation classes with Belly dancing being her finest! As an avid Jazzercise devotee, she kept in great shape. Jean shuttled her gorgeous children to NYC in the 60’s and 70’s introducing them to a life in the arts as child actors while also traveling as far as her car would let her, never afraid of the road in front of her. In fact, she drove from California to New Jersey with her daughter Lynn, stopping at many monumental sites along the way.  Jean was a pioneer in being an independent woman instilling wanderlust and an indomitable, undefeatable spirit in her children.

Proud of her Irish heritage, she was an active member of the Women of Irish Heritage, Inc. that championed charities and visits to the mother land of Ireland which Jean traveled and even marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Navan a beautiful town in the Northwest of Dublin.

She also loved her winter trips to California which allowed her and Jack to spend precious time with her West Coast children, Mary, Erin and J.R. and grandchildren Nicolette and Dominique. California is where she spent the final years of her life. She survived raising 5 daughters and 1 son, losing two daughters and a husband.

Loving mother to Gail McGeady (Brian Buckley) Wayne, NJ, MaryBeth O’Brien, Encinitas, CA, Lynn Quinn (Terry Quinn) Bloomfield, N.J., and J.R. O’Brien (Tiffany Crain-Weis) Encinitas, CA. Proud grandmother of Mark Robinson (Amanda Nelson-Robinson) Jessica, Jennifer and Charles Brady, Nicolette and Dominique DiDia, Michael and Preston Quinn, and newest arrival great-grandson Jack Robinson.

She will be dearly missed and forever loved by her family that attributes their Irish stubbornness to their beloved matriarch.