Rev. Francis O'Brien, beacon for Framingham parishioners

FRANCIS O'BRIEN

Amid scandal and church closings within Catholic parishes around Boston, the Rev. Francis O'Brien Jr. was the kind of priest who gave his parishioners reason to keep faith, they said.

"We experienced God's love through Father O'Brien, and we will continue to thank God for having him in our lives, even if it was only for a short time," said Roberta Pawluczonek of Clinton.

Father O'Brien, 68, a priest for more than four decades, died of a heart attack Sept. 18 at his Natick home. Most recently he was pastor for 13 years of St. George Catholic Church in the Framingham village of Saxonville.

"The past few years have been a hard time for all of us but he always found a way to reach out to people, especially the youth and the children," said the Rev. Benjamin Thuan LeTran, the vicar of St. George.

Last Monday, mourners packed St. George's Church, where Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, archbishop of the Boston diocese, said the funeral Mass.

"It was incredible to see all the young people who showed up," said Father LeTran. "The youth returned from colleges to be there."

Father O'Brien, known as Franny, was remembered as a generous, understanding, and kind priest who never said a negative word about anyone, he said.

When hungry people came off the street to ask for food at St. George, he led them to the church's pantry. If the pantry was empty, he gave them gift cards. If he was out of gift cards, he gave them cash.

LeTran recalled cautioning Father O'Brien about giving cash to strangers.

"I challenged him. I said people will think we have cash in the rectory. He looked straight into my eyes and said, 'Ben, they needed it.' I could not argue with that," he said.

In the days before he died, Father O'Brien celebrated Mass and reveled in a church picnic attended by more than 300 people.

"He was very proud the people came together to celebrate faith and friendship and love in the community," LeTran said.

Born in Natick, Father O'Brien was the only child of the late Francis E. and Gertrude (Fair) O'Brien.

He graduated in 1958 from Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, which became Trinity Catholic High School.

Classmate and friend William Pansire of East Sandwich said Father O'Brien was "always a happy guy who was easy to get along with."

"He had a means of doing things without ruffling feathers," he said.

Pansire recalled when he and Father O'Brien were boys, around 8 or 9. Father O'Brien's father, who was a janitor at a public school in Natick, had just waxed the floors. "We put on our socks and skated all around," he said.

He said that at their 50th class reunion, the two old friends talked about old times and the paths their lives had taken. "He kind of reflected on how he was happy he had chosen the clerical life," Pansire said.

Father O'Brien studied at Cardinal O'Connell Seminary in Jamaica Plain and earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. John's Seminary in Brighton. He later earned a master's degree in counseling at Framingham State College.

In 1966, he was ordained at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston and received his first assignment as vicar of Christ the King Parish in Hudson.

Father O'Brien later served at St. Mary's Parish in West Quincy and St. Patrick's Parish in Watertown, where he was chaplain for the Knights of Columbus chapter.

In 1988, he was named pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Medford before he was called to St. George in 1995.

Father O'Brien leaves several cousins. He was buried in St. Patrick Cemetery in Natick.