Longtime Chicago attorney Larry O’Brien was known for spinning a good yarn.
“He would tell stories, and you were never certain if they were real or made up — sometimes not until years later,” said his daughter, Jillian Dine.
“He was a mercurial messenger of happiness, and his stories were funnier than hell,” said Doug Davidson, a fellow attorney and friend since law school. “Whether he was flying to The Hague to argue a case or helping Abraham Zapruder with film editing, Larry was full of it — but it was glorious.”
Mr. O’Brien also was known for his behind-the-scenes advocacy work and the countless cases he would quietly take on at little or no cost to his clients.
“He couldn’t bear to see anyone bullied,” said his cousin, Barney Flanagan, a retired Chicago police officer. “He represented hundreds of people who couldn’t afford to have a lawyer and was generous with his time and resources to many charities.”
Mr. O’Brien, 69, died Sunday, March 22, apparently of a heart attack, in his River Forest home, his daughter said.
“Pro bono legal work and going out of his way to help others was a hallmark of his career and his life,” said longtime friend Cid Froelich, a Chicago attorney. “There was nothing he wouldn’t do for you. He was one of those guys that when you asked for a favor, you couldn’t even finish and he’d be saying, ‘Done!’ “
Mr. O’Brien was also a longtime member of the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago and a regular participant in the city’s St. Patrick Day parade and festivities.
“He was a proud Irishman that proved it every chance he got,” his daughter said.
A graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep on the Near West Side, Mr. O’Brien attended Northwestern University on a track scholarship. He earned a bachelor’s degree and then in 1971 received a law degree from Loyola University. He was drafted into the Army and served for a year in Vietnam assigned to administrative duties.
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Mr. O’Brien returned to Chicago and served as an assistant state’s attorney, before opening his own law practice on LaSalle Street, specializing in real estate law.
In more recent years, Mr. O’Brien focused on keeping up with his grandchildren and overseeing operations of an 800-acre soy bean farm in Marengo, purchased by his parents in 1977 and leased out to local farmers.
Mr. O’Brien also is survived by his wife, Nancy; two sons, Barton and Clayton; two brothers, Daniel and Patrick; a sister, Rosemary Weisenberger; and eight grandchildren.
Services were held.