Thomas Joseph (Teeg) O'Brien, 91, passed away on June 28, 2020 at a long-term care facility. Tom was born March 19, 1929, the youngest son of William H. and Ina Laura (Darbe) O'Brien in Kansas City, Missouri. He was a third-generation Irish American, and he was very proud and curious about his family genealogy. His father, William H. O'Brien Sr. was a pharmacist by training and owned a series of drugstores in the Kansas City area, as well as a wholesale pharmaceutical business.
Tom was a well educated man and maintained a lifelong intellectual curiosity. He attended Saint Peter's Grade School in Kansas City, Missouri and followed his two older brothers and many lifelong friends onward to graduate from Rockhurst High School in 1946 and Rockhurst College in 1950. Tom valued his Jesuit education highly and maintained the values learned there throughout his life.
During these early years he was an outstanding athlete and excelled in multiple sports including football and baseball. In 1949, Tom played on the very last football team that played at Rockhurst College. In 2002 he was inducted into the Rockhurst Sports Hall of Fame for his record as a star center on the college football team. After high school and college and a successful career as a pitcher in Ban Johnson baseball he was asked to go to California and participate in tryouts for the New York Yankees, whose manager, the legendary Casey Stengel, was a Kansas City native. He went to California but an unknown injury from the previous season in Kansas City ended his dreams of a professional baseball career. Memories of meeting baseball stars Billy Martin, Satchel Page and others remained a fond memory throughout his life.
The Korean War followed and Thomas joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Pensacola, Florida. This experience encouraged a later interest in aviation and he secured a private pilot's license.
Tom returned to Kansas City and following the sage advice of his two older brothers, who were attorneys, Tom attended the Kansas City School of Law, (later, UMKC Law School), graduating in 1955 and passing the bar the same year. He was a member of the Missouri Bar and the Florida Bar Association. Tom started his career with the well known Kansas City law firm of Linde, Thomson. In 1965 he was appointed a Special Assistant Attorney General in Missouri. But Tom's son Joey O'Brien was diagnosed with complex medical issues. Tom needed to attend to his son and at this time he hung out his own shingle and remained an independent attorney until just a few years before his death.
He was a good and gentle soul who weathered some stormy seas and remained a good man. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 4962.
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