Maureen Bernadette Schmitt O’Brien 

(Updated Info @ bottom re: Celebration of Life April 6, 2024 in Wheeling)

On the morning of Monday, August 7, 2023, Maureen passed peacefully in her sleep at the far too young age of 68 following a long and hard-fought battle against cancer.

Born in Philadelphia in 1955 to Walter and Kathleen Schmitt, Maureen was the middle child in a proud Irish Catholic family that relocated to Wheeling, WV, in 1966. Maureen grew up in Wheeling and returned there to live in the early 2000s. Although she was always a bit of a “mountain mama,” Maureen raised her daughter Leah in the countryside of Auburn, GA and later returned to GA in 2020 to live with her daughter, son-in-law, and now grandson.

Among her many accomplishments, Maureen was a dedicated, creative, and brilliant mother and care taker. While Leah may have been her only child, Maureen served as a bonus mom to probably half a dozen of Leah’s friends throughout the years bringing those bonus daughters on vacations, inviting them to dinner, and opening her home for days, weeks, and months as needed. She also cherished the time she got to spend with those who called her aunt and watching them grow up. Later in life, Maureen achieved the title she most coveted (“Nana”) and she poured her love and light into her young grandson, Felix.

A lifelong student of life and the world, Maureen valued both formal and informal education. In addition to attending college, Maureen also learned by traveling and experiencing different lifestyles, spending considerable time in her late teens and early twenties on Sanibel Island (often camping on the beach), farm steading in New York (usually without electricity or running water), housesitting in Martha’s Vineyard, and surrounded by snow in White Sulpher Springs, WV. For her entire life, Maureen was constantly reading (or listening) to books and often wrote her own poetry, short stories, and essays – she especially loved to claim that “as a writer, she was allowed to make up her own words.” Similarly, Maureen championed learning for others. Not only did she assign an inordinate amount of additional homework to Leah during her childhood (as well as to some of Leah’s friends), but she also worked as a HeadStart teacher and as a mental health treatment teacher and facilitator.

Throughout her life, Maureen also maintained a deep and powerful commitment to her faith and her love of God. Maureen’s faith called her to love others, avoid judging, and to commit to a lifetime of acts of service. She delighted in sharing her faith openly and also in simply loving people and making sure they knew she was an ally, friend, and sister in Christ. From volunteering for Meals on Wheels to running prayer circles and support groups, to sponsoring children around the world, Maureen lived a life of Godly service.

Maureen is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Leah Farmer and Drew Jansky; the littlest love of her life, her grandson Felix; her siblings Therese Kurtze, Frank Schmitt, Steve (Tina) Schmitt, and John (Roseann) Schmitt; those who called her aunt Phi Kurtze (yoshi kuroi), John Schmitt (Crystal), Haley Schmitt Jarrett (Justin), and Josh Farmer; her aunts, Ullainee Schmitt Geiges (Royersford, PA) and Barbara Ziegelhofer (Bensalem, PA); her ex-husband Ray Farmer (Sarah Vasen Farmer) with whom she continued to co-parent and maintained a loving friendship; and, so many friends and extended family members, including those she lovingly adopted as her P.I.T.A.S. (pain-in-the-a**-sisters) and her “Sister Mother-in-Law,” Dr. Lynne Jansky. Among others, she is preceded in death by her mother, Kathleen Ziegelhofer Schmitt, her father Walter Schmitt, her step-mother, Jeanne Schmitt, her beloved grandmother, Mary O’Brien, and her grandfather John G. Ziegelhofer.

A small celebration of life  was held for family in Atlanta, GA on August 11. 

UPDATE: A second celebration of life is planned for Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Oglebay Resort's Driehorst Shelter. Please join Maureen's daughter and other family and friends for a casual and celebratory afternoon of bonfires, pizza and snacks, and some beers (feel free to BYOB as well). You may email Leah for more details, including times at:  MoLoveinWheeling@gmail.com. We look forward to having you join us to celebrate the force of wonder and magic that was Maureen O'Brien. 

(If you are not able to join, we encourage you to share stories and memories at the email address above. Or, if you are able, volunteer somewhere in Maureen's honor and in remembrance of her upcoming birthday on April 12.)

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