Does MPHS have photographs: Assorted Images
Address in Mount Prospect:
Birth Date: October 25, 1901
Death Date: May 1963
Marriage: No
Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments
Rev. Thomas O’Brien was the founding priest for Saint Raymond’s Church. He was ordained in 1932 at Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary. He spent seven years as an assistant at Saint Thomas the Apostle parish in Chicago and then ten years as the Chaplain at Saint Theresa Hospital in Waukegan. In 1949 he was assigned to Saint Raymond’s and sent to organize the congregation and build the church facilities. This was the first Catholic Church in Mount Prospect, and once it had a priest, it grew very rapidly. It was first started in the late 1940s when the Catholic Women’s Club began working to bring a Catholic parish to the community. After years of work, in 1949 Father O’Brien arrived and gave the first mass in the basement of the Central School. The parish grew quickly and opened the doors to its eight room school in 1954. The school was so popular by the end of the decade that they had to have two schedules for the students, one that came in the morning and one that came in the afternoon. The school has been significantly enlarged and continues to be popular in the community.