Margaret Ann (Williams) O'Brien

Margaret A. “Maggie” O’Brien of Sierra Vista, AZ, passed away on Friday,January 3, 2025, at the age of 75 at BeeHive Homes following an extended illness.

Maggie was born on January 5, 1949, in Oakland, CA, the daughter of the late Edwin and Mary Ann (Underwood) Williams. She was a Navy brat of World War II veteran parents and lived in Morocco, Germany and at various stateside Naval bases. Her family settled in Silverton, OR, where she attended Silverton High School and then began college at Oregon State University. Maggie left OSU looking to travel and was hired as a Department of the Army civilian employee in Stuttgart, Germany.

She eventually took another Army civilian job at Fort Meade, MD, then was hired as an intern in the Army Secretariat staff in the Pentagon. Maggie found her calling as a budget analyst and spent more than seventeen years in the Secretary of the Army’s budget office. While working full-time, she earned her Bachelor’s degree of Science at the University of Maryland and her Master's degree in Business Administration at Marymount University.

After working as an Army budget supervisor for 10 years, Maggie briefly took a budget analyst job with the Department of Defense but returned to Army after 9/11/2001 to help reestablish her old budget office at the Pentagon which took a direct hit; she lost 20 of her friends and colleagues. In 2003, she and her husband moved to Sierra Vista, taking jobs at Fort Huachuca, AZ. Maggie retired in 2007 after 34 years of Army and DoD civilian service. Afterwards she worked for 3 years at Edward Jones (Landon and Sandy).

She married Tom O’Brien on December 16, 1989, at Fort Myer, VA; they were married and best friends for 35 years. They enjoyed traveling to various countries in Europe and venturing around the United States. In later years, they enjoyed cruising, taking 22 cruises to Alaska, Mexico, the Caribbean and to various west coast port cities. Maggie enjoyed weekly Bible study, monthlyChristian Women Connection events and sewing and quilting with the “quilt” group.

Maggie is survived by her husband, Tom O’Brien of Sierra Vista, her brothers,Tom (Dorothy) Williams of Juneau, AK, John (Cheryl) Williams of New Princeton,OR, sister-in-law, Brenda O’Brien of Corning, NY, niece Charity Platt, nephews Shawn (Crissy) Williams and Jeff (Kelly) Williams and their families all of Juneau,AK. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother-in-law, Jim O’Brien, her nephew, Chuck Platt, and her two cats, 18-year-old Dobey and 19-year-old Tuxey.

Family and friends are asked to meet at 10:00 am for the Recitation of the Rosary followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 am at St. Andrews the Apostle Catholic Church, 800 North Taylor Drive, Sierra Vista. 

Rites of Committal and Interment will follow 12:00 Noon at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery 1300 Buffalo Soldier Trail, Sierra Vista, Arizona

Memorial donations in Maggie’s name may be sent to St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church, 800 Taylor Drive, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635, Attn: Organ Fund

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Margaret Ann (Williams) O'Brien, please visit our floral store.