Obituary of William Smith O'Brien

Visiting for William will be held at Nolan Funeral Home, 5 Lauel Avenue, Northport, NY on Monay from 2-5 & 7-9 PM. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday at 10:30 AM at Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs Church, Centerport, with a burial to follow at Northport Rural Cemetery, Northport with US Army Military Honors.

In William's memory, donations to Parish Social Ministry, C/O Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, 53 Prospect Road, Centerport, NY 11721 would be appreciated and remembered by the family. Donation envelopes will be available at the funeral home.

By Jean-Marc O’Brien

Our father William Smith O’Brien was born outside of Chicago Illinois in Evergreen Park, Illinois after the depression on August 6, 1934. He passed away on March 24, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife Yvette O’Brien, his two sons Jean-Marc Edward O’Brien, Peter William O’Brien and his grandson Jean-Luc William Oliveira O’Brien and daughter in law Nagila Moreno de Oliveira-O’Brien as well as his sister Mary O’Brien and her children Christopher Gulick, David Gulick and Jane Gulick.

His Dad was an attorney and his mom, we all affectionately knew as Nanny, was his guiding light. His sister Mary also several years his elder was very protective of her younger brother. Dad grew up going to catholic schools St. John’s Prep and then majored in English at St. John’s. He loved and played basketball and to this day he loved to watch the March madness college game which he found more exciting.

Then Dad enlisted in the U.S. Army and spent time on board LSD carrier ships. We were mesmerized by his stories about one ship he was on which sank off the coast of Greenland and the crew, him included, were saved just in time.

When Dad got out of the Army one day in NYC at a party he met the love of his life, our Mom, Yvette. And since it has been, and always will be Bill and Yvette. Me and my brother came along in the early 60’s. Our French mom changed his life and opened Dad’s world to the joie de vivre of the French. There were many trips to France where our mother was born and that included a years’ sabbatical in 1970 where Dad attended the Sorbonne in Paris.

Dad then got his Masters in Education from New York University and became an art teacher. He worked at James M. Kiernan Junior High school in the South Bronx. He was the champion of the forgotten kids who were mainly destined for jail or gangs or worse. He became dean of discipline as well. But he also spent countless hours writing proposals for money when the city had none to fund special school without walls programs for these kids. In doing so he made them feel someone cared about them and essentially made them believe in themselves and thrive. Founder/Director of the ESP Project in 1971 ..... one of the first NYC alternative middle school projects for at-risk students in the South Bronx; Advisor, to the Bronx Alumnii Arts Council Foundation; Field Supervisor, Comprehensive Education Committee and Alternative Schools Field Project , College for Human Services, and member, doctoral proposal committee for "Field Based Development of Leadership and Educational Change" at the N.Y.U. Graduate School of Education; Authored the proposal, "Summer Use of the American Center in Paris" for
American Secondary and University Art Students.

Then came the big move to Northport, NY where our father and mother have lived for 54 years. He became a commuter to the Bronx every day for decades to provide a safe and wonderful home for his family. We grew up in Northport with Dad supporting us on the sidelines at our soccer games or track meets and in the case of my brother Peter providing guidance and encouragement for his choice of a life as an artist. He was always there for us for every up and down along the way.

Our father was always the most – A generous and zealous supporter of people who just needed a helping hand, a shoulder to lean on or and ear to bend, he always engaged and never judged and was so generous with his time whether it was for kids in the Bronx or in starting the Jobs outreach program at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs church to reviving the community engagement as the Director of the Northport Historical Society.

Always an avid outdoorsman he loved camping and fishing both salt and fresh waters. But his favorite was tying his flies and flyfishing in the rivers of the Catskills and the Adirondacks. We would camp and fish and canoe along with the third brother our family dog Pax whom my father loved.  He was a Huntington Town Committee appointee and Park Steward offering volunteer conservation services in the preservation of the 680 acre Crab Meadow Wetlands project. And he catalyzed the work done to save the Fuch’s Pond preserve.

In Dad’s later years he lost his strength and mobility but still tied his flies and was an active fisherman until sadly that was beyond his physical strength. Yet he kept buying and selling fishing rods and reels and made special wooden fly rod boxes cases which he would give as gifts to people he wanted to help provide an inspiration to take up the hobby he loved. For Dad a bad day on the water fishing was always better than a good day at the office.

Our father loved being an inspirational person to those in need but most of all he loved family and the simple pleasures of sitting at our kitchen table and eating and talking. And when our family grew to add his beloved daughter in law Nagila and especially his grandson Jean-Luc he was even happier.

But in the end the one constant and always and forever love of his life was his beloved only love of his life Yvette. Whether we were on a trip or he was in the hospital his first question was always “how is mom?”

We will miss your courage, perseverance, love, smile and humble generosity.