Peter Ralph O'Brien, O.P., Death, 1971-01-06
Scope and Contents
This collection contains personal materials relating to friars after they have left the order, passed away, or transferred to another province. Each friar's file contents are mostly limited to their novitiate records, canonical assignments, historically important correspondence, and a small number of personal items if desired upon their passing. Within the broader collection, each Friar is sorted as a series.
Friars with particuarly substantial historically important papers or items outside of the scope of the Personal Files are placed within a dedicated collection under their name.
This collection is a work in progress and any use of these files requires the explicit permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist to discuss access or inquire about friars that may not been cataloged yet.
Dates
- Creation: Death, 1971-01-06
Conditions Governing Access
Requires explicit permission from Provincial to access any records. Contact the Archivist for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
Can only be accessed upon written permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist for further details.
Biographical / Historical
A native of Chicago, Father Peter O'Brien was born on October 26, 1897 and was baptized in St. Agatha's parish where he also received his elementary education. His high school studies were taken under the direction of the Jesuit Fathers at St. Ignatius in Chicago with college work under the Dominican Fathers at Aquinas College in Columbus, Ohio. He entered the Dominican novitiate at St. Joseph Priory, Somerset, Ohio in September 1916.
Father O'Brien completed his studies for the priesthood at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington and was ordained in St. Dominic's Church on June 14, 1923. He did postgraduate work at the Angelicum in Rome from 1924-1926 and then returned to Chicago to begin teaching philosophy in the newly established House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois. A few years later he taught theology at the House of Studies in Washington and summer philosophy courses at Catholic University of America. In 1934 he returned to River Forest where he had been elected Prior.
When the Province of St. Albert the Great was established in December 1939, Father O'Brien was appointed first Provincial although he continued to teach in addition to his duties as Provincial. In 1949 he successfully defended his thesis for the degree of Master of Sacred Theology before the General Chapter Capitular Fathers in Washington, D.C.
Upon completion of his second term as Provincial, Father O'Brien was appointed pastor and superior of St. Dominic in Denver, Colorado; in 1952 he was appointed pastor and superior of Blessed Sacrament in Madison, Wisconsin; in late 1953 he was appointed Vicar General of the Order in Japan by the Master General. In 1955 he returned to resume his role
as professor of theology at St. Rose Priory and Mount Saint Bernard Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Until 1964, he was also Procurator of the Province.
During the last years of his life, Father O'Brien served as assistant at St. Joseph's Church, Ponchatoula, Louisiana. In August of 1970 he was stricken with a rare disease of the muscular tissues. He died in the hospital at Hammond, Louisiana on January 6, 1971.
Funeral services were held in Ponchatoula and in River Forest at St. Vincent Ferrer Church. He was buried in All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois.
Extent
From the Collection: 1 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
From the Collection: Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives of the Province of St. Albert the Great, U.S.A. Repository
1910 S. Ashland Ave
Chicago Illinois 60608 United States
3122430011
archivist@opcentral.org