Sr. Rose O'Brien OSF's Obituary
Sr. Rose O’Brien, age 91 of the Sisters of St. Francis in Oldenburg, died on August 30, 2022. Born on September 16, 1930 in Covington, Kentucky, she was the second of six children born to Elizabeth (Nee: Hery) and James O’Brien Sr.
Rose grew up in the St. Bernard neighborhood of Cincinnati where her family were members of St. Clement Parish, attending its grade school and graduating from Our Lady of Angels High School which were taught by Oldenburg Franciscans. While in school, Rose participated in band, orchestra and chorus, developing her life-long love of music. In 1948 Rose decided to enter the Franciscan Sisters’ Community as she was ready to begin her life of service. In an interview later in life, Rose noted, “I feel my vocation was from God, but was influenced greatly by the good example and the prayerful, joyful community spirit present in my high school faculty.”
As a Franciscan Sister, she earned a degree in education at Marian College, her master’s degree in theology at St. Xavier University in Chicago, and continued her education through the years at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C.; St. Louis University in Missouri and Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rose started her teaching career in 1950 in elementary education and during the following 24 years she taught at St. Anthony, Evansville, Indiana; St. Mary, Bloomington, Illinois; Our Lady of Sorrows in Kansas City, Missouri; Our Lady of Victory, St. James White Oak, St. Francis Seraph and St. Bartholomew all in Cincinnati, Ohio and St. Mary in Middletown, Ohio. After completing her Catechist and Director of Religious Education Certifications, in 1974 she began serving as the Assistant Director of Religious Education at Our Lady of the Rosary in Cincinnati, Ohio; and later as Director of Religious Education at St. John the Baptist in Cincinnati, Ohio. In her later ministry she taught English classes while ministering in Mexico followed by ten years of teaching English at Cincy Lingua. That experience led her to become a GED instructor and to begin an English as a Second Language Program at the Lower Price Hill Community School.
When asked what was her most fulfilling ministry, Rose responded, “Welcoming immigrants and international students by sharing a language has been so exciting for me. If someone would ask me about their becoming active in any ministry service, I would encourage them to join in doing God’s work. When the poor are educated, they become contributing members of their neighborhoods and communities. As this happens, all the people of God are bettered.”
She is survived by sisters Ann Rombach of Wilmington, Delaware, Mary Ellen Swanson of Park Ridge, Illinois as well as numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she is also preceded in death by sister Betty Lesch and brothers Daniel and James O’Brien Jr.
Visitation will be Tuesday, September 6th from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the convent chapel. Funeral services follow at 3:30 p.m. with Rev. Ken Overberg SJ officiating. Burial will be in the convent cemetery. Those attending must wear masks. For those unable to attend, services will be live-streamed at https://youtu.be/Z4ZkV4ELFQU. Memorials may be made to the Sisters of St. Francis, P.O. Box 100, Oldenburg, Indiana, 47036 (www.OldenburgFranciscans.org).
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