June 7, 1938 – March 6, 2018
A memorial service for Grace Alene O’Brien of Sweet Home will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 22, at Jim Riggs Community Center, 880 18th Ave. Sweet Home.
Grace, 79, died March 6, 2018 at Evergreen Hospice in Albany.
She was born June 7, 1938, in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, to Ceacil and Mary Allen, the third-eldest of eight children. Her siblings included Lucille, Jimmy, Henry, Howard, Buddy, Bonnie and Eddy. She loved visiting with them, either in person or her cherished phone conversations. They all loved her deeply.
Grace married Jerry O’Brien on March 15, 1957. She loved him dearly and always said taking care of the husband, who took such great care of her, was her No. 1 job. They were blessed with three little ones, Susan, David and James.
Susan and her soulmate Daniel Adams, have raised Susie’s daughters, Jerilyn and Jenifer. David and his wife Tammy were blessed with two daughters of their own, Stephanie and Amanda. James, who recently became engaged to Tosha, also has two children, Shawn and Danika.
Grace’s six grandkids brought in an influx of love. Jerilyn married Ryan Stone nearly 24 years ago, and they have Mikey, Meagan, and Abigail. Amanda and her husband Jesse Barnard have two daughters, Cheyenne and Ava. Megan and her fiancé, Trevor Beeman, just had their first child, Tiberius Beeman this past October.
Jenifer had two children, Cory and Alexandra, as well as two grandkids, Aria and Caden.
Stephanie got married this past February to Lindsey. Grace was also a doting grandma to Michelle, Xandri, Jamey, Alex, Maddox and Gage.
Grace loved cooking big holiday dinners. Every meal, every tradition, was another “I love you” from her to all of us.
Her favorite was Christmas. She would take two or three days to perfect the hand-laid tinsel. Each year she took such care filling Papa’s stocking, and vice versa. It was a testament to their love, the perfection of their 61-year dance, which kept them from ever catching the other.
Grace loved taking care of her family. Whether she was preparing for a holiday celebration, working on the bracelet of a handmade doll, planting her little flower beds, or cooking someone’s favorite foods, her joy came from doing for others.
Grace was always teaching: from sewing to cooking, she passed down her knowledge to those she loved. She would crochet dolls for her loved ones in their favorite colors, just because. She created hundreds of dolls and clowns that she worked so hard to perfect, then gave them away to bring someone joy.
She made sure our favorite breakfast foods lured us out of our slumber on the nights we slept at her house. She delighted in spoiling everyone.
She was an avid country music fan. She had over 500 LPs, CDs and cassettes. She loved watching country family reunion on her RFD channel. She took great pride in her work as a cook at the Point Restaurant, later at the Elks Lodge.
Grace will continue her life long mission of taking care of others and loving them, through each and every one of us that loved her.