Obituary of Henry M. O'Bryan, Jr.

Henry M. O'Bryan Jr., 77, retired research engineer at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, died suddenly on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at his family cottage in Summit Hill, PA. He died shortly after a day spent working outdoors chipping wood, and playing ball with his granddaughter, two of his favorite activities. Born August 20, 1934 in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Eleanor Shea and Henry M. O'Bryan, he was raised in Cambridge, MA and resided in Palmerton, PA; Bristol, England; Washington, DC; and Belmont, MA. He graduated from the St. Sebastian's School in Newton MA in 1952. Henry graduated from Notre Dame in 1956 with a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering and then served in the U.S. Army from1956 to1958. After the Army, he matriculated at the University of Michigan, earning a Masters Degree in 1960 and a PhD in 1963, both in Materials Engineering. There he also met his wife, the former Joan Kathleen Murray, of Chicago, Illinois. The couple married in 1961 and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last August, in the joyous company of family and friends. Henry was employed by Bell Laboratories/Lucent Technologies in Murray Hill for 36 years as a materials scientist where he was involved with electronic ceramics and thin film sputtering. He was responsible for12 patents, dealing with temperature stable low loss microwave ceramics, discoveries that proved important for microwave communications, particularly pertaining to cell phone technology. He was past Chairman of the Electronics Division of the American Ceramic Society. He retired from Bell Laboratories in 1999. A resident of Plainfield since the early 1960s, Henry was a member of the St. Bernard and St. Stanislaus Parish Council, the Plainfield Area YMCA Board, and was President of the United Way of Plainfield. He was a committed coach of Little League baseball, active with YMCA swimming, as well as a Union County Master Gardener. He also was a dedicated volunteer for the Greater Plainfield Habitat for Humanity and the Missionaries of Charity Convent in downtown Plainfield. Surviving are his wife, Joan Murray O'Bryan; his five children, Joseph (Gabriele) of Herndon, VA, Dr. Jean Knight (Simon) of Philadelphia, PA; Dr. Martin (Rachel) of Denver, CO, John (Michele) of Glencoe, IL, and Thomas (Gretchen) of Cranford, NJ; and nine grandchildren: Joan, Patrick, Miles, Owen, Cleo, Hugh, Sofie, Tess and Maeve; and two sisters, Eleanor Smith of Culpeper, VA and Sarah Snow of Short Hills, NJ. Funeral Services will be held Friday, March 16, 2012 at 9 am from the Higgins Home for Funerals, 209 West Eighth St., Plainfield, followed by a 10 am Mass of Resurrection at St. Bernard and St. Stanislaus Church in Plainfield. Burial will be on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 9 am at St. Michael's Cemetery, Springfield, MA. Visitation will be held Thursday, March 15, from 2 to 4 and 7 to9 pm. Donations may be made in his memory to the Greater Plainfield Habitat for Humanity, 2 Randolph Rd., Plainfield, NJ 07060.