Beloved pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Parish
Father Dennis O'Brien. (Courtesy photo)
The Rev. Dennis J. O’Brien, 70, a priest of the Diocese of Worcester for 44 years, died on Saturday, July 17, 2021. In 2005, Father O’Brien was named pastor of St. Theresa, the Little Flower Church, in Harvard, and was later appointed pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Bolton. After the two parishes were merged in 2008, he became the first pastor of the newly formed Holy Trinity Catholic Parish.
Born in Whitinsville on June 17, 1951, Father Dennis—as he was known to his parishioners and friends—was the son of William F. and Rita M. (Ducharme) O’Brien and was raised in Whitinsville. He attended St. Patrick School in Whitinsville and was a graduate of St. Mary’s Central Catholic High School in Milford. He studied for the priesthood at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Connecticut; St. John’s Seminary, Brighton; and the North American College in Rome. While in Rome, Father Dennis studied at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, where he received his bachelor’s degree in sacred theology in 1976. He completed his deacon internship at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, West Boylston, and was ordained by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan on June 18, 1977, in the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Worcester.
Following ordination, Father Dennis was assigned for the summer to Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Hopedale before returning to Rome for graduate studies at the Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical Gregorian University. He received his licentiate in sacred theology in 1978 and returned to Sacred Heart Parish as associate pastor. In 1981 he was assigned to the faculty of St. Bernard’s Central Catholic High School, Fitchburg. In 1983 he was named to the faculty of Holy Name Central Catholic High School, Worcester. He received his master’s degree in administration and supervision from Boston College in 1985 and was appointed headmaster of Holy Name on July 11, 1986. In 1993 he entered the novitiate of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance at St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer. He spent more than four years with the Trappist community over a period of seven years.
In 1996, Father O’Brien was appointed the first director of the Father James Fitton House for Priestly Formation in Leicester and taught in the diocesan Permanent Diaconate program. He had also served as associate pastor of St. Leo’s Parish, Leominster; St. Mary’s Parish, Shrewsbury; and Saint Joseph’s Parish, Fitchburg.
He was named pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Leominster in 2012. He retired as pastor in 2017, and had been in residence at St. Mary Church in Uxbridge since 2017.
Father O’Brien was the dean of Deanery X, which included Leominster, Fitchburg, and Lunenburg, and was chairman of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council. He had been an associate of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary since 1984. For the last three years he served as minister to priests for the Diocese of Worcester.
Father Dennis is survived by his brother, John F. “OB” O’Brien, and Bethany Pomfret of Whitinsville; his uncle, John J. O’Brien of Whitinsville and aunt, Mary Jane O’Brien of Whitinsville; several cousins, friends, brother priests, classmates, and loving parishioners. He was predeceased by his parents, an infant brother, Dennis O’Brien, in 1950, and cousin William D. “Danny” Maher III.
A funeral Mass was concelebrated in St. Mary’s Parish, Uxbridge, on July 23 with the Most Rev. Robert. J. McManus as principal celebrant. Burial followed in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Whitinsville.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Father Dennis may be made to: Priest Retirement Fund of the Diocese of Worcester, 49 Elm Street, Worcester, MA 01609.
