Sally O’Brien

Sally O’Brien—formerly of Hampton, Des Moines, and Marshalltown—died suddenly after a long illness on October 17, 2021 at Independence Village of Ames. 

Here is how Sally described her life on the back cover of her 2019 novel Goodbye, Miss February: 

Sally O’Brien grew up in a small town in Iowa although at the time she didn’t consider a place with 4000 people small. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Iowa, married young, had five children, and spent 23 years as an administrative assistant in a Des Moines hospital. Currently, she lives in a town that is just the right size. During all of this time, she wrote. Several of her stories were published including in three Chicken Soup for the Soul books.

Sally was born and raised in Hampton (the place with 4000 people). She married her high school sweetheart James O’Brien in 1956. They raised their five children in Des Moines. In 1994, they moved to Marshalltown (the town that is just the right size). She meticulously documented her life in journals, and she researched and wrote the family genealogy. She became serious about writing fiction after her children were grown, but her fiction was far from serious. Her novel is a witty, light-hearted look at small town Midwestern life. Sally also was a voracious reader. She bought more books than could be read in a lifetime. Hopefully, there are books in heaven. She also thoroughly enjoyed getting manicures with her daughters, and she was enormously proud when her son was ordained into the priesthood. She was active in St Henry’s parish in Marshalltown.

Sally is survived by a family of four children: Julia (Bob) Coash of Bondurant, Veronica (Bill) Vaughn of Story City, Father Michael O’Brien of Colorado, and Jean (Gordon) Ostrem of California; a son-in-law David Bloch of Ankeny; seven grandchildren: Jeanette (Gerad) Santana, Amanda Althaus, Matt Althaus, Michael (Kara) Vaughn, Zachary Kupitz, Kelsey Kupitz (Dave Jabore), and Dan Bloch; and four great-grandchildren: Shea and Aubree Santana, Simon Vaughn, and Iris Jabore. Sally was preceded in death by her parents Carl and Betty Herren, husband James O’Brien, daughter Katherine Bloch, and grandson Joseph Vaughn.

A funeral mass will be held at St Cecilia’s Parish in Ames, Iowa on Thursday, October 21 at 10:30 a.m. Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. also at Saint Cecilia’s with a rosary at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St Croix Hospice.

We all will miss her terribly. Goodbye, Miss February.