O'BRIEN, JOHN MICHAEL AND MARIE ANNETTE

by John M. and Marie O'Brien

Entry F317 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Emmy Lou Amanda O'Brien November 1987
daughter of John and Marie O'Brien

John and Marie O'Brien. Christmas 1986 Creamy (Cat) and Peaches

John Michael O'Brien was born in Mullen,
Nebraska on 1964. His parents are
the late Claude Raymond O'Brien and Betty
Lou Long. Mike was one of the six O'Brien
children to grow up on the family ranch
South of Mullen. He enjoyed the excellent
trout fishing on the South Dismal River and
the plentiful coyote hunting of the Sandhills.
Mike qualified for the State Golf Meet,
participated in theater and music, and was
also active in other Varsity sports during
High School. He graduated from Mullen
High in 1982. John Michael used his Fine
Arts Scholarship while majoring in Theater
during his first two years at Chadron State
College, Chadron, NE. His sophomore year
he switched to agriculture where he majored
in Agri-Business. The next year John (his
friends called him by his first name at CSC)
met his future wife, Marie Annette Wadas.
Marie grew up in Ord, NE where she was born
at the Valley County Hospital on
1966. Benedict J. and Dorothy Mae Wadas
are her parents. A First Class Girl Scout, she
was a National Honor Society member and
played Varsity sports, graduating from Ord
High School in 1984. In college she majored
in Wildlife/Biology and participated in Var-
sity Track and Basketball while on Scholar-
ship. John and Marie dated during Marie's
freshman year and were married the follow-
ing summer. The wedding was held on the
porch of the Commanding Officers house at
Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park near
Elyria, NE. on July 20, 1985. Afterwards,
Marie finished her job as Naturalist at the
Eastern NE 4-H Center while John helped
his older brother Jim in the hayfields around
Hooker County. They both returned to CSC
in the Fall where John Michael was elected
to the CSC Student Senate. He graduated
with a Bachelor Degree in May of 1986. That
summer Marie worked at Kamp Kaleo near
Burwell, NE. John helped her father at the
Ord Airport, hayed in the Sandhills and still
found time to play softball. August of 1986
they moved down to Kansas. John was
offered a job backgrounding calves on a ranch
outside of Kansas City, KS near Tonganoxie.
Marie worked part-time in town and attend-
ed St. Mary College in Leavenworth, KS
taking education courses. April of 1987 the
couple had a chance to move back to Nebras-
ka to work on a ranch south of John Michael's
home in Hooker County. Later, in August,
they moved in next door to his folks to wait
out the birth of their first baby. Emmylou
Amanda was born in Ord, Nebraska on
1987. After a few days at her
grandparents home, Emmylou returned with
her folks to Mullen and the family ranch.