O'BRIEN, JAMES PATRICK AND CHERYL SUE

by Cheryl O'Brien

Entry F316 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Jim O'Brien Family 1982. Jim, Cheryl, Mary Jo (7 yrs.),
Chris (4 yrs.), Anita (3 yrs.).

James Patrick was born to Claude and Lou
O'Brien on 1949. He was born in
Alliance, Nebraska, and came home to three
older sisters. He worked on the ranch with his
dad while growing up and attended Mullen
Public Schools. Jim and his sisters Sandy,
Virginia Lou and Joanne were joined by a
sister, Mary Jane, in 1952 and a brother, John
Michael, in 1964. Jim lost his father and
sister, Mary Jane, in a plane crash on his
birthday, August 25, 1966. Jim graduated
from Mullen High School in the Spring of
1967. That fall he entered Kearney State
College at Kearney, NE. Cheryl Sue Anders
was born on 1949 in Alliance,
Nebraska, to Beth and LeRoy Anders. Cheryl
had two older brothers, Dick and Chuck and
was later joined by Gary. Cheryl attended
country school until mid-term of the 5th
grade when the Anders moved to Mullen for
school. Cheryl graduated from Mullen High
School the spring of 1967 and attended the
North Platte Beauty Academy in North
Platte, Nebraska.

Jim and Cheryl were married December 28,
1969 at the Methodist Church in Mullen,
Nebraska. After a honeymoon in Denver,
Colorado, they returned to the O'Brien
Ranch where Jim ranched until the fall of
1973. Cheryl's father, LeRoy, passed away
and Jim and Cheryl leased his ranch and
moved to Cherry County. Jim and Cheryl had
four children. They lost Patricia Lou was was
born in 1972. Mary Jo was born on her Dad's
Birthday, 1975, Christopher Mi-
chael was born 1978 and Anita
Sue was born 1979. In the fall of
1979 Jim and his family moved back to the
O'Brien Ranch in Hooker County. Jim and
Cheryl have always been active in ranching,
community affairs and working for St. Joseph
Episcopal Church. In the spring of 1987 Jim
and Cheryl leased the Carl Simonson Ranch
north of Mullen and moved back to Cherry
County. The children attended Mullen Pub-
lic Schools.