Paula O'Brien

Paula O’Brien of Catonsville, Maryland, was promoted to glory on January 13, 2017, at the age of 84, after a long illness.  Her departure was peaceful, in the presence of family.  Paula Coad Feury was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, daughter of George Feury and Catherine (nee Thompson of Hollywood, MD) and sister to Thomas.  While earning a bachelor’s degree in business from Caldwell College for Women (now Caldwell University), Paula fell in love with William (Bill) O’Brien. Shortly after he was commissioned an Air Force officer, they were engaged.  They were married on September 11, 1954 during hurricane Edna. The couple first lived in Fairborn, Ohio (Bill was assigned to Wright Patterson AFB), where life in a trailer under a busy flight path instilled in Paula a tolerance for a noisy home.  She gave birth to six children over a period of nine years, during which time Bill became an Air Force civil servant and the young family relocated to nearby Xenia, where Paula not only nurtured her two girls and four boys with great care and affection, but also found time for parish and civic activities.

In the 17th year of her marriage, Paula threw her full support behind the family’s relocation to the Netherlands for four years (later followed by three in Belgium) in connection with Bill’s job.  The move to Europe had a profound impact on Paula, resulting in an intellectual and spiritual awakening.  With Bill, she actively supported and led local Christian ministries.  She also enrolled in cooking, history, art, and pastoral training courses and enjoyed numerous family trips throughout Europe, many of which she captured in detail in her travel journal.  Paula often reminisced about her happy memories of road trips during which her children kept her in stitches with impromptu, amateur comedic routines.

In 1979, Paula once again encouraged a family move when Bill was offered a position in Maryland.  Throughout the remainder of her life in the Baltimore area, Paula became increasingly well regarded as a spiritual mentor to younger women, many of whom she befriended for the remainder of her life.  She may have found her greatest fulfillment in the many hours she devoted to counseling and prayer with women facing crisis pregnancies.  She held leadership positions in one counseling center and also in a ministry devoted to providing new mothers with the supplies, information, and encouragement needed to care properly for their newborns.  As Paula’s children married and blessed her with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, each event brought her immeasurable joy.

Paula is now reunited with her mother, father, and brother, whom she missed greatly after their deaths.  A devout Catholic, she left a legacy of active Christian service for her loving husband, her six children and their spouses: Kathleen Ryan, husband Scott; Richard, wife Sandra; Tom, wife Karen; Mary Dubyoski, husband James; Mike, wife Mary-Allison; Patrick, wife Michele, 26 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.  She will be dearly missed but her friends and family celebrate her life of devoted love and service.

For those wishing to pay their respects, there will be a time for visitation on Thursday, January 19, 4pm-7pm, at the Candle Light Funeral Home, 1835 Frederick Rd., Catonsville, MD 21228 (Tel: 443-830-0310). Christian wake service will be Thursday, 6pm.  A funeral service (Mass of Christian Burial) will be celebrated on Friday, January 20, 11am, at Church of the Resurrection, 3175 Paulskirk Dr, Ellicott City, MD 21042.  Interment will take place at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery in Owings Mills, MD.  No public service at the cemetery is planned.

For those desiring contributions in Paula’s name to her beloved ministry for expectant mothers would be greatly appreciated: Pregnancy Center West, 5411 Old Frederick Road Suite #1, Baltimore, MD 21229.

To send photos to - or request photos from - the family, please send an email message to Pics@POBspace.com