Dolores J. O’Brien
August 20, 1929 to January 9, 2021


Dolores Joan (Cannon) O’Brien, 91, of Annapolis, died peacefully on the morning of January 9, 2021, at Anne Arundel Medical Center.

Dolores was born on August 20, 1929, in Washington, D.C. A first-generation Irish American, she was the daughter of Patrick Cannon, a native of County Mayo, Ireland, and Lydia Augusta Cannon, of Baltimore, who died during World War II, when Dolores was 15;and the granddaughter of prominent Washington saloon keeper and distiller, Patrick Cannon, Sr.
Dolores was a very proud native of Brookland, in NE Washington, DC, and a graduate of St Anthony’s High School, from which she maintained many lifelong friendships.
In 1947, Dolores married the love of her life, Bobby O’Brien, who passed away in 1992, after 45 years of marriage. With Bobby, she shared a profound love of family, a deep Catholic faith, an enthusiasm for the Washington Football Team, and, amazingly, a birthday.
After raising her four children, Dolores went to work for the Prince George’s County Early Childhood Programs, working under her dear friend, the late Judy Hoyer.

In 1994, Dolores settled happily in Heritage Harbor, Annapolis, where so many of her Brookland friends were her neighbors, including her beloved sisters-in-law, Helen O’Brien, Carol O’Brien and Rose O’Brien.
After her retirement, Dolores took to the stage. She loved to sing and had a voice that was rich and deep. Under the guidance of the impresario of Heritage Harbor, her sister-in-law Mary Ellen O’Brien, she performed prominent roles in numerous musicals, including Annie in “Miss Hannigan’s School for Girls” and Rizzo in a Grease parody called “Crisco,” all to great acclaim. Rehearsals and performances consumed the entire fall season, but it brought her great joy.

Dolores was an accomplished storyteller and even her story’s villains were always given their humanity. She really could see the good in people. Dolores loved to travel. She visited Ireland twice, Rome, and many beautiful places across America. She loved wine, chocolate, Irish Coffee and ice cream. And yet she was always very tiny.

Dolores is survived by two daughters, Janet O’Brien Lynn of Mt Airy, MD, and Patricia O’Brien of Annapolis, and two sons, Tommy O’Brien of Pompano Beach, FL, and Jim O’Brien (Terri), of Oakland, CA; three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; and scores of nieces and nephews who loved her dearly. To many of them, she was simply Dory.
As well as her husband Bobby, she was preceded in death by a brother, Patrick Cannon of Rockville, sisters Ruth Dean of Mt Ranier, MD, and Sister Francis Augusta Cannon, OSB, of Elizabeth NJ, as well as her grandson, Kristopher Owens, of Mt. Airy.

There will be a viewing at Kalas Funeral Home, 2973 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater, MD, on Sunday, January 17, 2021, from 2 to 5 p.m. A funeral mass will be held on Monday, January 18, 2021, at 10:30 a.m., at St John Neumann Catholic Church, 620 N. Bestgate Road., Annapolis. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the funeral will also be livestreamed online at: http://vimeo.com/event/78413. The family is planning to have a memorial mass and celebration of Dolores’s life later in the summer.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Benedictine Sisters of Elizabeth NJ, 800 N Broad Street, Elizabeth NJ 07208.