REV. V. PATRICK O'BRIEN

PERRYVILLE -- The Rev. Virgil Patrick O'Brien, 78, died Wednesday, April 12, 1995, at St. Mary's of the Barrens.

He was born Jan. 26, 1917, in Nara Visa, N.M., son of Louis Edward and Philomena C. Kappus O'Brien.

O'Brien attended St. Vincent's College in Cape Girardeau, and studied philosophy and theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Perryville. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1942 at St. Mary's. He received a doctorate in moral theology and master's in sociology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He was one of the founders and teachers at Good Shepherd Seminary in Kenya, Africa, during the 1980s. He spent the last few years in Perryville, working at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

O'Brien had also served at seminaries and residences in San Antonio, Texas; Camarillo, Calif.; Chicago; Denver; St. Louis, and Nairobi, Kenya.

Survivors include a sister, Margaret Doerge of Lakewood, Ill.

Friends may call from 5-9 p.m. Sunday at St. Mary's of the Barrens Church.

Funeral mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's, with the Rev. Ignatius Milato officiating. Burial will be in Vincentian Cemetery at Perryville.