NEW ROCHELLE, NY –Rev. Brother Eugene Berchmans O’Brien C.F.C. passed away on January 20, 2017. Brother O’Brien was born on March 9, 1928 in New York, the son of John and Agnes Greaney O’Brien. After graduating from Sacred Heart Elementary School, Queens, he attended Power Memorial Academy and the Christian Brothers’ Juniorate, St. Joseph’s, West Park. Brother received a BS degree in Education and his MS degrees in Classical Languages from Fordham University. Br. O’Brien also earned his MA in Guidance from Seton Hall University, a BRS and LRS in Theology from the Lateran Pontifical University Rome and a PhD in Counseling Education from Fordham University.
Brother O’Brien entered the Congregation of Christian Brothers on August 30, 1942 and pronounced his final vows on September 8, 1953. His ministry took him to many positions including Iona Grammar School, Blessed Sacrament High School, Rice High School, Santa Maria Novitiate, Mary Immaculate Novitiate, Essex Catholic High School, Iona College, Archbishop Curley-ND High School, Miami, and Trinity Catholic High School, Ocala. After retiring in 2003, Br. O’Brien resided at Iona College Community and most recently at St. Joseph’s Residence. He was an active member of the Holy Family Choir, New Rochelle.
Brother O’Brien was predeceased by his parents, John and Agnes. He is survived by his sister Patricia Pflum and his niece Joann Matask and a nephew Philip Pflum.
A wake will be held at St. Joseph’s Residence, 30 Montgomery Circle, New Rochelle, NY 10804 on Sunday January 22, 2017 from 2-4 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Family Church, Mayflower Ave., New Rochelle, NY on Wednesday at 10:30 AM. Interment will be at the Christian Brothers Cemetery in West Park, NY. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to St. Joseph’s Residence, 30 Montgomery Circle, New Rochelle, NY 10804.