Catherine Martha O'Brien

Catherine M. O’Brien, age 90, passed away on Sunday, October 15th.

Born March 27th, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of Harold Steinhardt and Catherine (Murphy) Steinhardt. She moved to Warwick, New York as a child, graduating from Warwick High School in 1950. She attended the University of Maryland College Park for two years before graduating from Syracuse University in 1954. In 1957, she married Edward F. O’Brien, and soon thereafter moved to Freeport, New York, where she taught elementary school until taking a pause to raise a family. In 1968, she moved with her family to Laurel, Maryland, where she would raise her four children. She received her Master’s in Education at Trinity College in 1988. She would begin to teach again as a 5th grade teacher at St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville in 1984, where she would go on to become a beloved resource teacher, winning the school’s 2006 Teacher of the Year Award. She retired in 2012 at the age of 79. Catherine, or Cathy, was a proud member of St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Laurel, and as well as loving to teach, she loved to spend her free time reading mystery novels, gardening, and traveling with family, especially to the Outer Banks, North Carolina.

Catherine O’Brien is survived by her four children: Edward (wife Ann), Deirdre (husband Donald), Sean (wife Tracy), and Mary Margaret O’Brien. She lives on through her granddaughters, Bridget and Madeline, in their interests in mystery novels and education. Catherine is predeceased by her loving husband, Edward F. O’Brien, and her brother, John H. Steinhardt. She will meet them again in heaven. She is well-beloved and deeply missed.

Visitation will be on Sunday, October 22nd, from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm- 4:00 pm at the Donaldson Funeral Home, P.A. at 313 Talbott Avenue, Laurel, Maryland. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, October 23rd at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, 8603 Contee Road in Laurel, Maryland.  All are welcome at both visitation and funeral services.