Conan O’Brien’s parents, Dr. Thomas O’Brien and Ruth Reardon O’Brien, died three days apart from one another. Thomas was 95 and Ruth was 92.
Thomas died on Monday after “his health had been failing,” The Boston Globe reported, and Ruth died on Thursday at their home in Brookline, Massachusetts, according to an obituary shared by the Bell-O’Dea Funeral Home.
Born on Jan. 28, 1929, in Worcester, Massachusetts, Thomas went on to graduate from Harvard Medical School in 1954, M.D. cum laude with a full scholarship.
In a career that spanned more than 60 years, Thomas was best known for his work in antimicrobial drug resistance research. He was also the first director of the infectious diseases division at what is now called Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He also served as an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
As for Ruth, she was born on Dec. 16, 1931, in Worcester, Massachusetts. She went on to graduate from Yale Law School in 1957 as one of only four women in her law school class. She was also elected vice president of the student government.
Throughout her career, Ruth served as a law clerk from 1956-57 for Chief Justice Raymond Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She later worked as a real estate attorney at the Ropes & Gray law firm in Boston, and in 1978, became the second woman to be named partner at the firm.
Thomas and Ruth tied the knot in 1958 after meeting through her brothers. They shared six children together, including Conan.
The former late-night talk show host told The Boston Globe that his father “was often the funniest guy in the room” adding, “When he would laugh, his whole body would convulse and he would almost hug himself.”
Conan also said his dad “had a voracious appetite for ideas and people and the crazy variety and irony of life. He wanted to go everywhere, meet everybody, see everything, taste everything.”
In addition to Conan, the pair is survived by their sons Justin, Neal and Luke; daughters Kate and Jane; and nine grandchildren.
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