Tribute to Jack in the local paper

The day after the funeral, we got a call from the Schools reporter for the Lowell Sun. She had seen Jack's obituary, and noting how he had dedicated his career to the schools in Lowell, wanted to do a piece on him. It appeared today:


Generations of kids knew he cared
Firm and funny, 'Jack' O'Brien left impact on students, colleagues at Lowell High

By Amelia Pak-Harvey

John "Jack" O'Brien, a city native, was

a leader at Lowell High for decades, 

serving as housemaster for 25 years before 

being named master in 1992. He died on 

Nov. 21 at 74 after a battle with cancer.

LOWELL -- Former Lowell High School administrator John "Jack" O'Brien was a fair but firm educator who stood his ground.

That's how City Councilor William Samaras, a former Lowell High headmaster, remembers the high school's former master.

When disciplining students, O'Brien would still listen well, Samaras said.

"Even if he were to administer a punishment for the student, they would basically thank him," he said. "They never left the office angry, they knew why they were being punished."

O'Brien died at 74 on Nov. 21 after a courageous two-year battle with cancer, but his legacy lives on in all the students he affected.

"He was there for them, I think as a teacher, administrator, educator in general," Samaras said. "You can't ask for any more than that."

Former Lowell High Master John
"Jack" O'Brien at a party for his retirement
in 1994. After retiring, he took a position as
a staff representative for the United Teachers
of Lowell.

Raised in Lowell's Centralville section, O'Brien taught for a few years in Fitchburg before returning to Lowell High, where he was chosen as a housemaster in 1967 and for the higher position of master in 1992.

He met his wife, Linda, at a staff party in 1989 while she was teaching at the school.

"He was fair and he was funny, and you just loved to see him coming because he always had this big smile," she said, holding up a picture of O'Brien smiling into the camera.

She remembers finding a former student almost everywhere the couple went.

"So many times we'd go somewhere and bump into a guy in his 40s and 50s," she said. "He'd say 'Oh Mr. O'Brien, you were tough but if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have graduated.'"

But O'Brien also stood up for teachers. After retiring from Lowell High, he took a position as a staff representative for the United Teachers of Lowell.

"His sense of fairness and commitment to the community, the kids and the educators was phenomenal," said UTL President Paul Georges.

As a staff representative, O'Brien helped provide services for teachers and other members of the union.

"He wasn't afraid to communicate that he cared about you," Georges said. "Particularly with students, and particularly with us as a group."

O'Brien still worked with the union two days a week before he died, working with Michael Earle as he transitioned as the new full-time representative.

For Earle, O'Brien was the person who convinced him to go into education.

"When I got out of college in 1969, it was Jack that said, 'You ought to try teaching,' " Earle said. "He was at the high school and he became my first boss."

Earle remembers O'Brien as a teacher, mentor and dear friend.

"He just was so dedicated not only as a teacher and a master at the high school, but also as a union leader," he said. "He worked so hard to make sure that all the people that he represented had just a better life in their job."

But O'Brien also wasn't afraid to say how he felt, and sometimes threw in a little humor too.

During his time as master at Lowell High, O'Brien used to make coffee for the whole office, brewing one pot of decaf for Samaras.

Samaras recalled a time when the two had reached a disagreement. The next day at work, Samaras said, they both went about their jobs without speaking to each other.

But Samaras was talking rapidly and feeling a bit jumpy.

When he faced O'Brien to make amends over the disagreement, O'Brien agreed to clear the air.

"By the way," he asked Samaras, "how many cups of coffee did you have today?"

Samaras thought he had six cups of decaf.

"He said, 'No you didn't,' " Samaras recalled, laughing. "'You had regular coffee. As a matter of fact, I put extra coffee in there.' "

Both of them had fun together, Samaras said, finding the funniest part of a conflict as well as a way to break it down.

"One time we were laughing so loud my secretary thought one of us was hurt and came running in the office, opened the door and said, 'What happened?'" Samaras said. "She just turned around, she was so mad at us for scaring her and we laughed even more."

O'Brien's sense of calm and clear guidance carried through even to his last days.

While being prepped for surgery for the last time, a young anesthesiologist couldn't get the needle in after trying twice, his wife said.

The young man started to get nervous, and O'Brien asked for his name -- it was David.

"He said, 'David, just relax, you're going to get it,' " she remembers her husband saying. "'I'm fine.'"