Obituary of Catherine Mary O'Brien

Catherine Mary O’Brien passed away Friday, August 9^th while undergoing treatment at the Yale Smilow Center in New Haven, CT. She was 55. From a young age Catie adored swimming, the outdoors and all dogs. She found her lifelong calling after graduating from Saint John's School and Mercy High School in Middletown, CT. When attending Boston College in Boston, MA she went on to receive three degrees in education and school administration graduating Summa Cum Laude. Catie was employed over thirty years by the Natick, MA public school Bennett-Hemenway, not only teaching fourth grade but working with struggling students in extended year programs. She was a sought-after private tutor for grades one through twelve. This past year, while caring for her father she taught fourth grade at Saint John's School in Old Saybrook, CT. She is survived by her beloved father Eugene R. O’Brien, of Old Saybrook, CT, her sister Maureen O’Brien, her niece Lauren Wells and her nephew Ryan Sandmann, and hundreds of Massachusetts students who stayed in her life well beyond their class room year!!! GO RED SOX!!! A Memorial Mass will held on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at 11:00AM at Saint John's Church, 161 Main Street in Old Saybrook,CT. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in her name to The Saint John's School, 42 Maynard Street, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 or to the Valley Shore Animal Welfare League, 647 Horse Hill Road, Westbrook, CT 06498. To share a memory of Catie or send a condolence to her family please visit www.rwwfh.com  Arrangements by the Robinson Wright & Weymer Funeral Home in Centerbrook.