Jesuit Father James O’Brien, a former Loyola Blakefield instructor, dies at 96

Jesuit Father James O’Brien, a Baltimore resident and former teacher at what is now Loyola Blakefield, died Dec. 23. He was 96.

Father O’Brien, who spent five decades of his career at Wheeling Jesuit College in West Virginia, was a native of Philadelphia who attended seminary at Woodstock College in Maryland. While in formation, he taught Greek, Latin, history and religion at Loyola High School in Baltimore. 

He was ordained at Woodstock in 1960 before starting his tenure at Wheeling Jesuit in 1962.

He started his collegiate academic career as a student at St. Joseph University in Philadelphia and became a midshipman at Pennsylvania Maritime Academy in 1945. He entered the novitiate at St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., in 1947, before earning degrees in history, philosophy and theology from West Baden College (Ind.) and Woodstock. He earned a doctorate in philosophy from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

During his 53-year career at Wheeling Jesuit, he taught philosophy and ethics and served as a chaplain and counselor as well as a department chair. For 27 years, he moderated the alumni association and organized the first Appalachian Experience Student Club in 1978, which later became the Appalachian Institute to help West Virginians in need. The institute continues to promote research, service and advocacy with the people of the region.

In 2015, Fr. O’Brien moved to the Colombiere Jesuit Community in Baltimore, where he served in pastoral ministry. He died several months after being inducted into the Wheeling, W.Va., Hall of Fame. 

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