Elaine Bradshaw O’Brien

Elaine Bradshaw O'Brien, aged 75, of Austin, Texas, passed away on April 2, 2024. Born on September 5, 1948, in Rose Hill, Duplin County, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Evelene Teachey Bradshaw and Daniel Hyden Bradshaw.

Elaine leaves behind a legacy of love. She was loved and she loved deeply. She saw your soul and touched your spirit. She experienced the transformational power of love and made stewarding that love one of her life's great endeavors. Our enchanted world was infused with her laughter, home-cooked meals, poetry, and dancing. She delighted in creating elaborate seven-course feasts to bring people together. She was spontaneous and fun loving; known to load up on adventures for a road trip to Mexico, an eclipse escapade, or a Guadalupe River inner tube float.

Growing up, she and her sister Anne, fell asleep to the prayers of their mother and woke up to fresh biscuits and Sissie's songs. She was shaped by the beaches and mountains, gardens and farmlands, the afternoons spent shelling butter beans and sharing stories on the porch. She loved to walk barefoot on hot black dirt and through crunchy pine needles.

As a graduate of Grimsley Senior High School in Greensboro, NC, she took great pride and joy in being a Whirligig cheerleader. Elaine's university experiences were rich and varied and culminated in achieving a Bachelor of Science Degree with High Honors in Math and Computer Science from the University of Texas. She was a poet and a storyteller, a playwright, and a gifted mathematician. She and three other authors published a book of poetry and short stories titled "How Many Moons". Her award winning plays were performed at theaaters across Texas. Her lifelong love of learning brought her to playwriting workshops, peotry readings and a short film course, which inspired her to write, film and direct her own short film. Her achievements were a reflection of her curiosity, creativity and kaleidoscopic brilliance and her dedication to excellence.

She was whimsically bright, surprisingly playful and astonishingly generous. She brought magic, color, and beauty into everything. The joy of the Lord was her strength.

Twenty years ago we slowly began to lose her to early onset Alzheimers and now her spirit is finally free.

She leaves behind her husband, Bill O'Brien, and their children, Shannon Kasperkiewicz (Tom), Mica VanBuskirk (Karl), William O'Brien III (Elizabeth), and Nikalina O'Brien (Travis). Her sister, Anne Wrenn, cousins Grace Penny and Billy Teachey (Donna), along with her adored grandchildren Stefan, Ania, and Nataniel Kasperkiewicz, John and Katie VanBuskirk, and William O'Brien IV. Elaine was predeceased by her beloved parents and siblings Frances Louise, Loretta Hunt, Edna Earl Bradshaw, and Daniel (Bud) Bradshaw.

A service to honor and remember Elaine was held on April 11, 2024, at New Hope Cemetery in Valley View, Texas. Another service will be held this fall in North Carolina. The family invites all who knew and loved Elaine to join them in celebrating her life and the impact she had on all who were privileged to know her. Her spirit, her laughter, and her love will be deeply missed, but the memory of her will be treasured forever.