Carol O'Brien

1939 - 2015

Carol Smith O'Brien

Nov 30, 1939 - May 13, 2015

Carol Smith O'Brien passed away on May 13th in Lafayette, California, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Carol was born in Denver, Colorado on November 30, 1939, and lived there for the first five years of her life. Carol's family moved to Los Angeles, when Carol's father left his job at the Union Pacific Railroad to help start Western Airlines. The family moved to a home in Hollywood and enjoyed the Southern California lifestyle.

Carol spent her high school years at Marlborough School for Girls where she received rigorous preparation for college at Stanford. During her time at Stanford, Carol met Bill Fuller and the two were married after graduation. After Bill completed his MBA at Harvard, he accepted a job with UNICEF and the couple moved to Cairo, Egypt, where their son Will was born in 1963. The family also lived in Beirut, Lebanon, Grenoble, France, and New York City prior to returning to Palo Alto for Bill's doctoral studies.

Carol and Bill's marriage ended shortly after their return to the U. S. and Carol and Will moved to Los Angeles. There Carol met and married Jim O'Brien, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, and the manager of Coldwell-Banker's LA office. After spending several years in Los Angeles the couple, along with Will, moved to the Washington, D.C. area for Jim's new job, opening a D.C. area office for Coldwell-Banker. During their time in Washington, Carol and Jim became immersed in philanthropic activities, including working for The House of Ruth, serving in various soup kitchens and working with individuals living in low-income housing projects.

After Will graduated from high school and went away to college, Jim and Carol spent two years in London, England, and then spent several years in Boston, Massachusetts on Coldwell-Banker related assignments. From there they moved to El Paso, Texas, so that Carol could do mission work in Mexico and then moved back to Washington, D.C., after Jim survived his first bout with cancer.

After retirement, Carol and Jim moved to Walnut Creek to be closer to Will and his family. Sadly, Carol lost Jim, after 31 years of marriage, to kidney cancer in 2001. Some years later Carol decided to move to the Vi retirement community near Denver, Colorado, only returning to Northern California to be nearer to her family as her medical condition became terminal.

Carol is survived by her loving family: son, William P. Fuller, grandchildren, William J. Fuller, Keely E. Fuller, Emma K. Fuller, daughter-in-law, Anne G. Fuller, all of Orinda, California, and by her step-mother Jean Smith, of Palm Desert, California. Carol is also survived by many dear friends she met over the years around the country and all over the world. Among those friends, she counted her first husband, Bill Fuller and his spouse, Jennifer Beckett, of San Francisco, with whom she established strong bonds of friendship in the months prior to her death.

A memorial service for family and friends, followed by internment, will be held at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Lafayette at 10:30 am on Wednesday, May 27th. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Hospice of the East Bay, Pleasant Hill, California.