Mary Eide O'Brien

Mary Eide O'Brien, Professor Emeritus of Spanish, passed away peacefully on September 15, 2026 at the age of 89 after a brief illness.

Mary was born in Fargo, North Dakota in 1937. She was the eldest daughter of Margaret and Oliver Eide and big sister to Jim and Paul. The Eide home was often filled with the aroma of freshly-baked cookies and the sound of piano music. Mary's mother and Granny Blesener were esteemed bakers, and Mary enjoyed listening to her parents play duets on their upright piano. This sparked in Mary a lifelong love of baking and music.

As a child, Mary dreamed of moving far away from Fargo. She would sit in her bedroom late at night and try to pick up jazz radio stations from across the country, imagining the exciting destinations she might visit someday. When it came time to go to college, however, her parents insisted she stay close to home. After graduating salutatorian from Shanley High School, Mary attended North Dakota State University, just eight blocks away from her house. She earned a BA in English with minors in Spanish and Social Studies.

Mary's aspirations to leave North Dakota finally came to fruition when she enrolled in graduate school at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She earned an MA in Spanish, and a PhD in Spanish Language and Literature. Her MA thesis was titled How to Say How in Spanish. Her doctoral dissertation, Fantasy in the Fiction of Ramon J. Sender, explored the literature of Spanish novelist Ramon Sender. In Boulder, Mary also discovered her love for singing, and joined folk singing and folk dancing groups.

After graduate school, Mary moved to San Diego, California to become a professor at San Diego State University (SDSU). Soon thereafter, she met Al O'Brien, a fellow faculty member in the History department. The two wed in Fargo and were married for 53 years. They had two daughters, Jen and Katie. Mary taught Spanish language and literature courses at SDSU for over three decades. She delighted in sharing knowledge about culture and language with her students.

When Mary and Al weren't working at the "glue factory," as they affectionately called SDSU, you could find them reading books, taking walks by the San Diego Bay, and hosting gatherings with friends. They attended Catholic mass every Sunday. Mary was an excellent cook and baker, a skill she proudly passed on to her daughters through tried-and-true family recipes. She also loved to eat, savoring every last bite of any meal. She practiced classical piano at home nearly every day; the beautiful music would resonate across the house and out the window towards the nearby ocean. She sang in concerts with the Masterwork Chorale in Mission Valley for two seasons.

Mary loved languages. Despite only spending a short summer session studying at la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City, she became fluent in Spanish and seized every opportunity to practice speaking the language. In conversation, Mary would spontaneously slip into a New England accent or sprinkle in a few phrases of Greek, Polish or Italian. She wholeheartedly embraced her identity as a linguaphile and language teacher.

Mary traveled as an adult. She especially enjoyed trips with Al up the California coast to Cambria, where she would spend hours on Moonstone Beach collecting ocean pebbles. Another favorite place of hers was Colorado, where she liked to go hiking in the mountains and reminisce about her grad school days. Other memorable travel destinations included Italy, Montreal, Alaska, Hawaii, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Greece, and Turkey. After her daughters left home, she and Al made sure to visit them where they were living abroad -in Spain, Costa Rica, and Honduras- and eventually where they settled down- in Arizona and Minnesota.

After more than 50 years in San Diego, Mary found herself back living in the Midwest, much to her own bemusement. She moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to live closer to her daughter Jen after Al's death. Mary enjoyed many special moments with Jen and her family during this time. They ate Sunday dinners at their house as well as dinners out, watched movies and endless seasons of Bridgerton, and simply enjoyed being together. "This has been the best time of my life, being here with you all," Mary told Jen a few months before she passed away.

Mary is survived by her daughters Jennifer O'Brien (Ethan) and Kathleen O'Brien (Leo Albarran); grandchildren Elia Bruzek O'Brien, Lucas Albarran, and Marcos Albarran; brothers James Eide (Cathy) and Paul Eide; and many nieces and nephews. Mary is preceded in death by her loving husband of 53 years, Albert C. O'Brien.

A very special thank you to the caregivers at the Pillars of Prospect Park.

The funeral service will be held at St Joan of Arc Catholic Community on October 16.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Mary's memory to: https://www.savethemusic.org