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Conan O’Brien tragically lost both his mother and father in the same week.
Father of the beloved comedianPh.D. Thomas O’Brien, died Monday (Dec. 9) at his home in Boston at the age of 95. His death, according to the data The Boston Globeit came after his “health failed.”
Thomas’ wife of 66 years, Ruth Reardon O’Brien, died on Thursday (December 12) at the age of 92.
Speaking to the newspaper about his father, O’Brien recalled: “My father was always on the move. And he was interested in everything – absolutely everything.”
Thomas was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1929. He later attended the College of the Holy Cross, where he earned a degree in classics. While there, he befriended two classmates who were the Ruth brothers, whom he met one day when he visited the family home. They got married in 1958.
After graduating from the College of Holy Cross in 1950, Thomas went to Harvard Medical School before completing his residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He served two years in the Army Medical Corps in San Antonio, Texas.
Thomas then returned to Harvard Medical School, where he spent most of his medical career. He also worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, becoming the institution’s first director of infectious diseases.
He went on to work at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s for more than 60 years, serving as an associate professor at the former. He eventually retired in 2019 at the age of 90.
Meanwhile, Ruth — also born and raised in Worcester — had a separate and equally successful career in law. A graduate of Vassar College and Yale Law School, she was one of only four women in her law class.
From 1956 to 1957, she clerked for the Honorable Raymond Wilkins, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. For the rest of her career, she worked as a real estate attorney in Boston at Ropes & Gray, and in 1978 became the second woman to become a partner at the firm.
Thomas and Ruth raised their six children in Brooklyn. Thomas loved comedy—he watched late-night talk shows during his medical residency—and introduced his children to comedy classics, including films by Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers.
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“He was often the funniest guy in the room. And when he would smile, his whole body would convulse and he would almost hug himself,” O’Brien, which will make its debut as the host of the Oscars at the 2025 ceremonyhe said The Boston Globe.
In addition to O’Brien, Ruth and Thomas shared five other children: Neil, Jane, Justin, Kate and Luke. They are too survived by nine grandchildren: Neve, Beckett, Paget, Eamonn, Declan, Grace, Irene, Finn and Caitlin, as well as 15 nieces and nephews.