Kevin O’Brien, 86
by Staten Island Advance
Wednesday May 27, 2009, 5:33 AM
WWII veteran was NYPD scientist
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Longtime Grant City resident Kevin P. O’Brien, a World War II veteran, NYPD forensic scientist and author of several books on forensics, died Sunday in Livingston County Skilled Nursing Facility, Mount Morris, N.Y., where he had resided for four years. His age was 86.
Born in the Bronx, Mr. O’Brien was brought to Grant City as an infant.
The graduate of St. Peter’s Boys High School enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, serving in Europe in a secret military unit called The Carpet Baggers from 1942 to 1945. He returned to military service in 1958 as a reservist and a chief warrant officer in the criminal investigations division.
Mr. O’Brien earned his bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College, the Bronx, and his master’s degree in forensic chemistry from John Jay College, Manhattan.
He was an NYPD chemist and investigator, working in the crime lab, for two decades. He retired in 1967 with the rank of detective first grade.
Mr. O’Brien relocated to Pittsford, a suburb of Rochester, N.Y., the year of his retirement. After leaving the police force, he began teaching forensic chemistry at Monroe Community College, and also taught at St. Peter’s College in New Jersey and his alma mater, John Jay College. He retired from teaching in the late 1980s.
Mr. O’Brien wrote several texts on forensics, including “Criminalization Theory and Practice.” He also published a paper for the United Nations about chemical components of narcotics in the illegal drug trade.
He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the NYPD’s Holy Name Society.
Mr. O’Brien was an avid traveler and Europe and England were favored destinations.
His brother was genuine, approachable and a hardworking family man, said Joseph O’Brien.
“He was a wonderful person, a great storyteller and lecturer,” he said. “He was warm, cooperative, he couldn’t do enough for other people.”
Mr. O’Brien enjoyed photography, and took many pictures of his family and during his travels.
On the Island, he was a parishioner of St. Christopher’s R.C. Church, Grant City.
His wife of 46 years, the former Kathleen MacBride, died in 1992. Mr. O’Brien’s son, Kevin Jr., died in 1962; his son, Stephen, died in 1978, and his granddaughter, Erin Richardson, died in 2002.
Surviving, along with his brother, Joseph, are his son, Rory O’Brien; his daughters, Kathleen Clapp and Eileen O’Brien; his brothers, John and James O’Brien; four grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.
The funeral will be tomorrow from the Miller Funeral Home, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Guardian Angels R.C. Church. Burial will be in Mendon Cemetery, all Rochester.
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