NT Ministry memories: Patricia Mary O'Brien, 01.09.43 - 01.17.22 RIP
Malcolm Fyfe MSC, Vicar General of Darwin, writes:
I have known Pat and Tony since the start of 1978 when I first came to Darwin. They had come a year earlier as Lay-Missionaries to Bathurst Island with their 3 young sons.
Thus began a decades-long friendship with Father Tim Brennan msc who at the time was the Community Adviser/Superintendent on Bathurst Island.
I learnt that Tony came from Gympie in Queensland and studied to be a Christian Brother for a couple years. Pat was from NSW. Amongst her many other attributes, especially her giftedness as a teacher, she was a Collingwood supporter!
The two had met up while teaching at the same school in Sydney, married and went on to have 3 sons.
Just today, Christian Brother Vince Roche of Wadeye told me: Pat was my mentor at Xavier Boys school on Bathurst Island 1980. Very welcoming, helpful in adjusting to teaching indigenous students for the first time. An excellent role- model. Lots of practical advice. She had strong views which she expressed in non-confronting ways. Devoted to her family. Enjoyed fishing, camping. Related well with Tiwi families.
After the family had a 4 year break down South, Records show that Pat joined the Staff at St John’s in 1985 and that after teaching there for 4 years, became the Registrar for Indigenous Education, a role she continued to fill until 2010.
Carol Muller says of Pat O’Brien: Besides being a brilliant teacher, Pat was a musician and taught the guitar to many of her students. In her capacity as Registrar, she was the one who looked after the enrolment of all Aboriginal students, visited communities, encouraged parents to come to the College, and generally built up a great rapport with the families”
Talking with Father Tim Brennan msc, I asked him for his thoughts about Pat’s role in the Top End.
The following is Tim’s offering:
“In terms of 60 years at St Johns, I hope the official history carries a chapter about Pat O'Brien, the person who, at times singlehandedly, kept the indigenous boarding not only economically viable due to her indefatigable recruitment and liaison efforts, but perhaps even more crucially was the friendly matriarchal presence where indigenous kids found a caring ear.
And an advocate with an establishment that could at times be unaware of how things were seen through indigenous eyes.
And further, could be an effective intermediary for indigenous parents no doubt perplexed by the intricacies of a modern white fellow educational institute.In Pat they could actually engage with a human being.
My mind goes back to awful tragedies like kids who suicided and Pat’s daunting but essential task of engaging with those families.Those are the ever so real moments of St John's College.
In short it is not the budgets, the school boards, exam results, or the senior leadership staff that emerge from the mists of my memory.It is the human dimension.
Mums, dads, grandparents, uncles and aunties who having engaged with Pat O'Brien felt comfortable in placing their most loved and treasured gifts in her hands - albeit at St Johns.
And I should not forget her husband Tony, who supported her as she navigated the joys, sorrows and frustrations. A husband who stood by her amid that roller coaster that was St John's boarding.
