Eganville – Father Ken O’Brien has mixed feelings about his retirement from active ministry in the Roman Catholic Church, but the one thing he is absolutely sure of is the choice he made almost 50 years ago was the right one for him.

Just seven months shy of his 50^th year of ordination in the priesthood, he celebrated his last masses on the weekend at St. James in Eganville and Nativity of Our Lady Mission church at Pikwakanagan First Nation and has now taken up residence in an apartment in Marianhill in Pembroke.

In an interview Friday, Fr. O’Brien reflected on his nearly half-century in the priesthood saying from the day he was ordained to the present time there isn’t anything he would have changed.

His appointment to Eganville eight years ago was described by former Pembroke Diocese Bishop Michael Mulhall as a marriage made in heaven.

“And I said, ‘I agree’. For my last appointment as a pastor, I couldn’t have gone anywhere else,” he said.

Father O’Brien speaks highly of the people of his parishes, but it is also important to note it was here in Eganville 50 years ago next May he was ordained into the priesthood.

He grew up on a farm along the Opeongo Road, in the former Sebastopol Township which is now part of Bonnechere Valley Township, and belonged to St. Joseph’s Parish, Esmonde, along the historic colonization road. He attended nearby SS No. 5 Sebastopol, located near the former Breen’s General Store, and when it came time for high school, he came to the Catholic high school in Eganville.

Priests like Fr. Brady McNamara, an Eganville native, were good examples for him and when Fr. O’Brien was appointed pastor in Eganville in 2015, Fr. “Mac” said “it was about time they appointed a local lad”.

“His statement still rings,” he said. “I didn’t consider myself as part of Eganville in that sense, but when I got into the church and started looking around, I thought ‘holy cow, I know a lot of people here’. And then it just kept growing and then I got to know the ones I didn’t know.

“It was really a sense of coming home and I was treated that way,” he said. “And then Pikwakanagan was a whole new experience.”

After he was ordained in 1974, he was appointed curate in Eganville for the summer months and would celebrate mass at Pikwakanagan. Now, almost 50 years later, he had to learn more names.

“And the same with St. Ann’s (Cormac), there were a few people I knew, but I got to know all of them pretty well during my stay.”

From a very young age, Ken O’Brien knew he wanted to be a priest. His older sister desired to be a teacher and during playtime on the farm, she taught him to count as well as his ABCs before he went to school. And after his lessons, he would pretend to say mass.

“I didn’t know one word of Latin, but made it all up as I went,” he said. “At my confirmation, Bishop Smith was asking everybody in the class what was the next sacrament you were going to receive. And they said marriage. He came to me, I was nine, and I said Holy Orders. There was no prompting from my family whatsoever. It had been put into my heart earlier in my life and when I went to see him to enter seminary, he recalled from my confirmation and he said, ‘now you are on your first step’.”

While in the seminary, Fr. O’Brien helped pay for part of his education working during the summer months at the Beer Store in Eganville. Again, it was Fr. “Mac” who opened the door for him.

“When I was in the Beer Store, no one ever asked me what I was doing and so I would appear at Christmas and work for a week or two and then come back in May and work June, July and August. And then, finally, someone asked ‘where do you go every winter when you disappear’?”

“What in the name of God are you studying?” was the question, “and I would say ‘I am a student’.

“What are you studying? And I would say, in whatever many years it was I had left, ‘I’m going to be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest’. And that would just stop the train at 90!”

He loved his job at the Beer Store and got to know many people. He had a lot of respect for the store manager of the day, Ross Stuart, who never revealed Ken’s his age to his superiors because he wasn’t yet 20 which was the minimum age one had to be in those days to work there.

Uncle Influenced Him

In his early years in the priesthood, he never thought of anyone in particular who influenced him in his decision, but as he grew older he came to realize his “Uncle Ken”, Father J.K. O’Brien, definitely played a huge role.

“You fill in the blanks a little bit when you get a little bit of experience under your belt,” he remarked. “He never said a word, but I know I wanted to emulate him. It was really strange. I never put all of the pieces together. I think I was too young and too inexperienced and as I got older and I got ordained, the morning of my ordination, I then put it altogether when Uncle Kenny was my chaplain and sat beside me.”

On his weekly day off, the older Fr. O’Brien would spend time at the O’Brien farm visiting with his brothers, Clifford (and Loretta) and Hilliard. Looking back, he said those were the people who influenced him the most.

“And the people who supported me were my family, my brothers (John, deceased, Matt and Gerard) and my sister (Marie) and their spouses. And it’s only after you get a few years under your belt you realize how important your family is to your vocation. Without family support I don’t know how you would ever do it.”

It is customary for priests to retire at age 75, but Fr. O’Brien sought permission to go a bit earlier because he wanted to retire in good health and while he was still active. He has had his share of health issues over the years – cancer, and hip replacements – and while he has some mobility issues, he is doing pretty good.

“Just wonderful” is how he describes his vocation, but admits he feels bad he has been less than healthy for the three parishes he served in recent years.

“But I don’t think I let the health issues hold me back from doing my job as the pastor of three parishes,” he said.

After his ordination and short stint in Eganville in 1974, Father O’Brien served as the assistant at Holy Name and then the Cathedral, both in Pembroke, and both for five years. He then was named pastor at Chalk River and from there he went to Osceola, then Combermere, and finally Eganville.

As the years passed, he found himself loving his vocation more and more. His love for the people he ministered to, and his family has grown in the ensuing years, and that includes people of all ages, from the children next door at St. James school through to the adults in his parishes. He also cherishes his time with his brothers and sisters who comprise the Eganville and Area Ministerial Association who meet monthly to discuss problems and issues that are equally at home with each denomination.

When asked how he felt about his last weekend as pastor of the three local parishes, he replied it was with mixed feelings.

“One side of me is looking forward to retirement and the other side I will be lonesome to leave the beautiful people I have come to know and love over the last eight years.”

Fr. O’Brien quickly became known for his no-nonsense approach to everyday issues. His homilies were brief but meaningful as he took the readings of the day and related them to the issues facing society. Most of his homilies focused on love, faith, charity and hope, and he encouraged his congregation to pause and reflect during their respite from the fast-paced world we live in today. 

He often injected humour, sharing his big smile that would warm a mother’s heart, and on more than one occasion was heard to say, “If that doesn’t get my Irish temper up….” His parishioners left church feeling fulfilled.

The Church Will Flourish Again

Many of the mainstream churches have been struggling in recent years with declining attendance and participation. Churches are closing across the country at an alarming rate and in many areas there are an insufficient number of clergy to fill the current needs.

But Fr. O’Brien believes the church will flourish again.

“We base ourselves on the American church, what’s happening there, and they are just starting to come back to having full churches again,” he said. “Doing nothing on a Sunday morning, except shopping or whatever, doesn’t seem to fulfill the want and desire in people’s hearts. And it’s just to get it together to attend.”

He also feels some members of the clergy must change with the times.

“I see clergy, those who are on pedestals, having to get off of them or they will be knocked off.”

Since childhood, Fr. O’Brien has lived an ecumenical life. Not one that was planned, but one that evolved, partly because of growing up on the Opeongo which was settled by Irish, German and families of other cultures, and attending the one-room schoolhouse for eight years where most of the children were from Lutheran families.

He has suggested at local ministerial meetings St. James church could be shared as a place of worship with its non-Catholic friends if some of the smaller churches were struggling with expenses.

“And that’s where I think we have to move. We need to get more together. My church, your church, our church; it has to become one.”

A few days before his departure from Eganville, Fr. O’Brien was asked if he would take on the role of chaplain for the Sisters of St. Joseph in Pembroke. There is no longer a convent for the sisters in Pembroke and the remaining members have moved into Supples Landing so he will celebrate mass for the sisters weekly and also preside over a Sunday mass for residents of the retirement home.

And so, as Fr. Ken rides off into the sunset to start the next chapter in his life, may he rejoice in his many accomplishments knowing that through his five decades of ministry, he touched the lives of thousands of people, many of whom are eternally grateful for his steadfast love and devotion to God’s word.

Many people had the opportunity to attend an open house recently to wish him a happy retirement and express their appreciation for his faithful service, friendship and the difference he has made in the lives of so many.

As he starts the next chapter of his life, it is the hope of many that his future will be filled with blessings of good health, the joy of good friends, a loving family, and the contentment of a job well done.