Thomas O'Brien

Thomas Justin O'Brien, known affectionately as Tom, passed away on July 23, 2024, at the age of 93 in Decatur, GA. Tom was a Decatur resident for 63 years.

Tom was born on July 27, 1930, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Growing up in Chicago, IL in the 1940's, Tom lived in the Cicero, Berwyn and Westchester communities. He graduated from Austin Senior High School in 1948. Tom enlisted in the United States Navy and served from 1950 to 1954, where he travelled the world during the Korean War era, as a Petty Officer First Class. During his military service, Tom was assigned to the Warner Robins Air Force Base, where he met his bride-to-be, Carolyn Yvonne Edgar.

Tom and Yvonne were married on December 18, 1954, in Macon, GA. The couple moved to Chicago where Tom pursued his passion for art and completed his Bachelor of Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While in Chicago, Mike and Kathy were born. In 1961, the family moved to Decatur, GA, and ultimately settled in the Druid Hills area. Tom had a long and noteworthy career as a graphic artist at Lithonia Lighting in Conyers, GA and at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA.

Tom is survived by his loving family, including his son Michael (Anita), daughter Kathleen, and grandchildren Justin, Evan, Liam, and Kiera, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife Yvonne, parents, Thomas Roscoe O'Brien and Christina Anna O'Brien (Ball), and his brother Terrence Neal O'Brien.

Tom was a kind and gentle soul, liked and adored by all. He had a quick wit and a dry sense of humor. He had a sense of adventure and as a young man would hitch hike all over the United States. He was a huge consumer of movies, music, television, novels, and comics. His dream car was the 1961 Studebaker Hawk. He had an encyclopedic mind with instant recall of entertainment, geography, history and especially movies of the 1940's. He was a terrific asset in trivia contests. Tom was young at heart, equally comfortable surrounded by his contemporaries or as happened often, with his adult children's contemporaries.

Tom will be buried next to Yvonne in the City of Decatur Cemetery in a private service. His legacy of creativity, service, and love continues to inspire all who knew him. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations should be made to the Sierra Club in his memory.