Church of the Nativity, Holy Cross Cantor Mary Anne O’Brien Dies at 55

Obituary from John E. Day Funeral Home

Mary Anne O'Brien, 55, of Little Silver, died Saturday at Riverview Medical Center after a very brief illness. She was born in New London Connecticut to the late Guy and Anne (Muraglia) Matthews. Mary Anne was a Monmouth University Trustee Scholar and the recipient of the 1980 Edward G. Schlaefer Award. After graduation she began her career as an applications programmer with Prudential Property and Casualty. She later worked as an analyst and project leader with Crum & Forster Insurance Co. Mary Anne then fully devoted herself to raising her two sons Kevin and Matthew. More recently, she worked as a substitute teacher in the Little Silver and Red Bank School Districts.

Throughout her life she had a passion for theater and performed locally for over twenty years. Starting with Bobby Byrne’s Theater In a Nutshell, she appeared in many productions of Premier Theater Company, and also appeared in Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore productions. She was actors equity eligible and most recently appeared in William Shakespeare’s play “Much Ado About Nothing” at Two River Theater Company. Mary Anne trained vocally for over 15 years with Teresa DiLeva of New York City and studied acting at the Wynn Handman Studio also in New York City.

Mary Anne was a longtime communicant of Church of the Nativity in Fair Haven, where she also taught CCD. She was a cantor at the Church of the Nativity and Holy Cross RC Church in Rumson. She was known to her friends and family as a compassionate caregiver providing love, support and assistance to parents, brothers, aunts and many others during times of need. She was a great friend and will be remembered for her generosity and fierce loyalty to those she loved.

She is predeceased by her parents and her two brothers, Guy and Glenn Matthews. Surviving is her loving husband of 30 years, Kevin O’Brien of Little Silver, her two sons, Kevin and Matthew both of Little Silver, her brother-in-law, Sean and his wife Rhonda of Schenectady, NY; her two sisters-in-law, Patty Brown and husband Christopher of Virginia Beach VA and Amanda Greene of Rockville MD, her niece, Susan O’Brien and nephews, Joshua and Virgil Matthews. Her aunts Antoinette Riccio and Elizabeth Muraglia and cousins Patricia Sprague, Christopher Muragula and Andrea Muraglia.

Visitation will be held at the John E. Day Funeral Home, 85 Riverside Avenue, Red Bank, NJ 07701 on Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Church of the Nativity on Thursday at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Monmouth Memorial Park