Denis Francis O'Brien

Denis Francis O’Brien died in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on October 2, 2017, unexpectedly, with his wife by his side. He was born and raised in Waterford, Ireland, son of Denis and Bridget (Vaughan) O’Brien and the older brother of Jim and Anne. He was raised in a loving family that also included an extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was very proud to be Irish and from Waterford and never missed a chance to let others know, as he spent most of his adult life in England, Germany, and the United States.

Denis married Valerie (Belonga) in Merrimack, New Hampshire. They enjoyed over 43 years together sharing their lives and adventures. He was a loving husband, best friend, and father, loyal, helpful and kind. He often said, “it’s the little things that make a difference” and, at the end of a workday or busy time, he would make Barry’s tea and encourage a time to pause and re-connect.

Denis trained as a psychiatric nurse at Warlingham Park Hospital in the National Health Service-London Mental Hospital region and worked in various hospitals and specialized psychiatric units in Warlingham and Croydon, England, Denver, Honolulu, San Francisco, Boston, and New Hampshire. After becoming a father, he devoted his time caring for his children in their travels as a military-connected family living in Los Angeles, San Antonio, Augusta GA, and Fairfax VA as well as Stuttgart, Landstuhl and Heidelberg, Germany. He thoroughly enjoyed that time and often said “staying home with my kids was the best decision I ever made”. He attended their games, field trips, packed them snacks every day when he picked them up from school, and infused their upbringing with all things Irish and regular visits to Waterford.

Denis was an excellent athlete and skilled at soccer, rugby, hurling, squash, tennis, badminton, and table tennis. He had a trial with Chelsea FC that was derailed by a broken leg but he remained a keen Chelsea fan throughout his life. He proudly assembled a large home gym before they were trendy and was relentless in investigating and implementing new exercises and routines in the Iron Mind tradition. He trained his wife and children (even when they would rather have done something else) and inspired a love of fitness and health.

Den was playful and always up for a ‘game’ and could make a competition out of just about anything. He enjoyed a wide range of music—rock, pop, reggae, country, opera—and had a lovely voice for crooning. He also liked going to the movies and kept an extensive and varied movie collection which he used frequently and readily shared. Denis loved his pets and traveled across the US and to Hawaii and Germany with two Great Danes and a cat. He spent his later years in the company of a chunky Maine Coon cat and a feisty chihuahua, Sophie, who he loved and who loved him dearly.

Denis made friends easily wherever he went. He was well-read, an avid storyteller, and great conversationalist. His life was spent in the company of family, many good friends, teammates, and respected competitors. He is survived by his wife, his children Bridget, Christopher, and Tadhg, sister Anne, brother Jim (Olive), brother-in-law Paul Belonga (Elizabeth) and many nieces and nephews. Denis has been and will continue to be very sorely missed.

Should you desire, donations would be gratefully appreciated to
the Alzheimer’s Association, https://www.alz.org/?form=alz_donate
the Association for Frontal Temporal Degeneration

https://www.classy.org/give/381228/#!/donation/checkout
or the Boston University CTE Center ( https://trusted.bu.edu/s/1759/2-bu/giving/interior.aspx?sid=1759&gid=2&pgid=422&cid=1060&dids=116&appealcode=WEBMED-DV )