Caroline M. O'Brien

WINSTED — Caroline M. O’Brien, 75, of Wetmore Avenue, died  Aug. 3, 2009, at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, following a lengthy illness. She was the widow of Joseph A. O’Brien, a columnist for this newspaper, who died in 2004.

Born in Norfolk Oct. 31, 1933, she was a daughter of Ellis and Evelyn (Bruey) Sylvernale. She attended local schools and was a graduate of The Gilbert School, class of 1951. She was the registrar of voters in the town of Winchester for seven years, a member of the Democratic Town Committee and an excellent cook and gardener who loved spending time with her family and reading.

Her survivors include three sons, Joseph A. O’Brien Jr. and his wife, Hilary Waldman, of Andover, Mark E. O’Brien of Boston and Thomas J. O’Brien and his wife, Dana King, of Winsted; two daughters, Anna E. O’Brien and partner, Pamela Warwick, of Great Barrington, Mass., and attorney Kathleen O’Brien of Winsted; a brother, Ellis Sylvernale of Jacksonville, Fla.; a sister, Joyce Mahoney of Torrington; and three grandchildren, David, Jill and Liam.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, Aug. 8, at 10:30 a.m. from Maloney Funeral Home, Winsted, to the Church of Christ Congregational in Norfolk for services at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in South Norfolk Cemetery.

Friends may call at the funeral home on Friday, Aug. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Gilbert School Music Department, in care of Diane Cook, 200 Williams Ave., Winsted, CT 06098. To leave an online condolence, visit maloneyfuneral.com.

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