Thomas Patrick O’Brien, 89, of Lady Lake, Florida, passed away peacefully in his sleep. Tom was born on September 5, 1934 to Patrick and Mary O’Brien in Orange, NJ.
Like many who grew up during Hollywood’s golden era, Tom passed his Saturday afternoons at the local cinema catching double features for 25¢. Based on the story of his life, those movies may have saved his life.
One of four children living in a coldwater flat during the Depression, Tom suffered like many youngsters during those difficult years of lean living. Life, however, became dramatically worse when his sister and father passed away and his mother became unable to care for her three remaining children – Tom was 5 years old.
Through those dark times, Tom’s one escape was the movies. There, on the big screen, he encountered intact families with food on their tables. He watched parents and children overcome their problems with love. He witnessed a world where truth and justice prevailed over those who exploited others.
Tom shared his most beloved movies with his family who realized that many of his central values were lifted directly from some scene in a classic. In the absence of parents, the movies taught him right from wrong, that love is worthy of sacrifice and that hard work gives you dignity.
If you met Tom, you would never know what he endured as a child. His spirit was marked by profound joy and deep purpose. He judged no man because “you never know where he has been in his life.” Loving concern and sacrificial living for others were the hallmarks of his life.
He chose to pursue the beautiful world he discovered in his movies and to a large extent, he found it. Or maybe he created it.
Tom’s life really began in 1960, when he met his wife of 60 years, Elvira Miranda, a recent immigrant from Colombia, South America. Elvira helped Tom find and give love. She provided the practical program for his dream of building a home and a family. Together they had four children (Marylou, Carol, David & Tricia), scrimped and saved to buy a home, took their kids to ballet classes, and eventually sent the children to Catholic schools and college. All their children graduated, earned master’s degrees, married and gave Tom and Elvira thirteen grandchildren.
Their life together was not easy but Elvira always told Tom, “together we can make it” and they did. He worked for nearly 50 years in a factory and she as a secretary. They didn’t have 2 nickels to rub together but they had each other. Somehow, that always seemed to be enough.
In 1996, they retired in The Villages and joined every club, enjoyed all the entertainment and danced their feet off at the town squares. Thanks to Tom’s union pension, they even had enough money to travel to Jerusalem, Europe and Alaska. For 26 years, they had a great life in The Villages filled with friends, family visits and all kinds of activities.
Tom was predeceased by his parents, his sisters Mary Ellen, Doris and Patricia, his son-in-law John Domino and his grandson Francis Bonaventure. He is survived by his daughter Marylou Domino, spouse of John, from Orchard Park, NY; daughter Carol McCarthy, spouse of Kevin, in Madison, NJ; son David O’Brien, spouse of Retzel, in Oxford, Fl; and daughter Patricia Shumaker, spouse of David, in Norwell, MA; grandchildren Tommy and David Domino; Erin, Keith and John McCarthy; Mason and Jonah Shumaker; and Clare, Toby, Joshua, Bernadette and Benjamin O’Brien.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, July 6, 11 a.m. at St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church in Wildwood, Florida.