Kathy O’Brien retires but is still active
By Omar Cabrera
Glenmary Home Missioners
Kathy O’Brien is wrapping up a 50-year career as a member of the Glenmary Lay Missionaries.
More than half a century ago, Ms. O’Brien had her first contact with the institute through a vocation brochure that was on a classroom table at her university in Wisconsin.
“I contacted them to ask if they would accept a volunteer for part of the summer,” she recalled.
The answer was yes.
“So, I got on a Greyhound bus and traveled to West Point, Miss.”
That summer, Ms. O’Brien helped lead Bible schools with the Lay Missionaries of Glenmary. She liked the experience so much that she stayed a week longer than expected.
She felt that she probably wanted to join the women’s institute. Her leaders recommended that she finish college and then return if she was still interested. And that’s just what she did.
In September 1974, after completing her religious training, she joined the group.
“Since then, I’ve always worked in teaching and parish work,” Ms. O’Brien said.
Her most recent and final assignment before retiring was as a pastoral associate at St. Michael the Archangel Mission in upper East Tennessee.
“She developed our youth ministry here,” said Glenmary priest Father Tom Charters, who has served as pastor of St. Michael from its founding in 2011. “She developed our religious-education program here. She was also instrumental in working with the Hispanic community.”
Ms. O’Brien learned Spanish years ago in Mexico before accepting an assignment in Waldron, Ark., where Glenmary served a large Hispanic population.
“By then I was about 50 years old,” she said. “It wasn’t easy.”
Ms. O’Brien, who now is in her 70s, knew it was the right time to step away from her full-time job. “I need to slow down, have a more contemplative mission,” she said. “In other words, more time to pray and lead others to prayer.”
And even though she has been discerning what her future will hold, one thing is clear: she’ll remain active in her ministry.
“One day, we were taking young college students to Johnson City to eat, and one of them said to me, ‘Miss Kathy, you can’t retire; Mother Teresa never retired,’” Ms. O’Brien said. “And you’re right, how does a missionary retire?”
Ms. O’Brien will remain active with community organizations such as Keeping the Valley Beautiful, which seeks to care for the environment and increase ecological awareness. In recent months, the group cleaned up a stretch of river and collected 16 bags of trash and large items. Ms. O’Brien helped, handing out trash sticks, bags, and drinks to the volunteers.
The organization has adopted two miles of road that they clean four times a year. They also participate in a booth during community fairs to raise awareness about the care of natural resources.
Ms. O’Brien has served as president of Keeping the Valley Beautiful but retired from that position. However, she plans to continue volunteering. And she will also continue to volunteer with the Kiwanis Club of Unicoi County, which organizes charitable programs for children, such as sponsorship for baseball teams and Christmas gift-giving in Erwin.
Although there are many volunteers and lay co-workers active in the Glenmary family, the institute called Glenmary Lay Missioners is disappearing. After its founding in 1957, this small group of women served alongside Glenmary priests and Brothers in different capacities. But it never went beyond a handful of passionate members.
It has been a colorful career.
Ms. O’Brien served Glenmary’s missions in Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. She is happy to see that the mission she worked on for the past decade is growing, and she is excited for St. Michael the Archangel’s future.
She will continue to live in the area and collaborate but now at a more relaxed pace. She also is looking forward to spending more time with family in Wisconsin.
“I feel rewarded,” Ms. O’Brien said. “I still have close relationships, thanks to the Internet, with people I have known and in groups of young people who are now grandparents.”