Daughter of Jonathan Silas O'Brien and Mary Hannah Adams.
Married 24 March 1928 at Layton, Davis, Utah to Shirley Harris Craig, son of John David Craig and Laura Maria Harris.
Shirley preceded Rachel 25 September 1987 and is buried alongside her.
They had three daughters: LaVee, Mary Hannah, Shirleen, and two sons. DAR Line current thru Shirleen Craig (living)
Our mother came from a very poor Irish family and always considered herself to be "from the wrong side of the tracks", as she put it. They once had a farm in the gully of Kayscreek, but lost the home and property during hard times. Her father became janitor for a local church house and she related that the $8 a month he got for tending coal bins and sweeping dusty floors was not enough to feed them.
Her father contracted Tuberculosis and died shortly after Dad and Mother married. Her mother also became bedridden ill and died about 15 years later.
Her brothers needed to work rather than attend school regularly. I don't remember her ever talking about any childhood joy or girlish fun she had. In fact, even to this day, I don't know how far she advanced in school. No girl friends were ever mentioned, only a cousin, whom Mother disliked, saying "she thought she was better than everyone else". I don't know why I never noticed this lacking in her life until she became more embittered in later life.
When Mother met Daddy, she was about 14; they married when she was 15 and he 18. Although we thought her story of their wedding night chivaree was a funny event, she evidently held deep resentment that his friends swept him off to, the then dance hall, "Salt Air" to keep him from his bride most of the night. She also related that she had resented it when our father returned from serving in the Navy during World War II because she had been left with all the responsibility of we four children at the time; and she said he was free to play at pool halls, with his buddies, when not on duty. She was angry when he returned a "hero" after the duration of the war, instead of being proud of his service.
They had a nice apartment which was an addition to Dad's childhood home; but being a young bride was not easy with a mother-in-law next door who was so experienced at taking care of a household. Evidently Dad's mother helped her a great deal, but this only made Mother feel less adequate. She also told us girls that she always resented Dad's devotion to his mother. Only hind-site has allowed us to conclude that the low esteem of a deprived little girl shaped her into a secretive, suspicious woman. We girls never understood it, but she seemed to even be jealous of us.
Because Dad was gone away on business, not for days, but for late hours, she expected her oldest son to accompany her to any event. When he married and moved away, her youngest son was a toddler. She devoted most of her time to him, as her two older daughters were married and I was a teenager. We later found that she shut Dad out of their lives because Dad expected her to support his discipline of the younger son, as she had done, when raising us.
Our older brother was always living far away and really didn't emotionally bond with us three girls, and our younger brother learned to take advantage of Mother's emotional dependency which became a wedge between Mother and Father and also between him and Father.
The sad end to a nearly 60 year marriage was when Daddy was seriously injured and unable to protect his family unity. Mother was alienated from her daughters and died in a nursing home. Our younger brother did not let us know she died - we heard it from friends and all three of us were unwelcome to attend her funeral. I'm sure she now knows who really loved her.
Married 24 March 1928 at Layton, Davis, Utah to Shirley Harris Craig, son of John David Craig and Laura Maria Harris.
Shirley preceded Rachel 25 September 1987 and is buried alongside her.
They had three daughters: LaVee, Mary Hannah, Shirleen, and two sons. DAR Line current thru Shirleen Craig (living)
Our mother came from a very poor Irish family and always considered herself to be "from the wrong side of the tracks", as she put it. They once had a farm in the gully of Kayscreek, but lost the home and property during hard times. Her father became janitor for a local church house and she related that the $8 a month he got for tending coal bins and sweeping dusty floors was not enough to feed them.
Her father contracted Tuberculosis and died shortly after Dad and Mother married. Her mother also became bedridden ill and died about 15 years later.
Her brothers needed to work rather than attend school regularly. I don't remember her ever talking about any childhood joy or girlish fun she had. In fact, even to this day, I don't know how far she advanced in school. No girl friends were ever mentioned, only a cousin, whom Mother disliked, saying "she thought she was better than everyone else". I don't know why I never noticed this lacking in her life until she became more embittered in later life.
When Mother met Daddy, she was about 14; they married when she was 15 and he 18. Although we thought her story of their wedding night chivaree was a funny event, she evidently held deep resentment that his friends swept him off to, the then dance hall, "Salt Air" to keep him from his bride most of the night. She also related that she had resented it when our father returned from serving in the Navy during World War II because she had been left with all the responsibility of we four children at the time; and she said he was free to play at pool halls, with his buddies, when not on duty. She was angry when he returned a "hero" after the duration of the war, instead of being proud of his service.
They had a nice apartment which was an addition to Dad's childhood home; but being a young bride was not easy with a mother-in-law next door who was so experienced at taking care of a household. Evidently Dad's mother helped her a great deal, but this only made Mother feel less adequate. She also told us girls that she always resented Dad's devotion to his mother. Only hind-site has allowed us to conclude that the low esteem of a deprived little girl shaped her into a secretive, suspicious woman. We girls never understood it, but she seemed to even be jealous of us.
Because Dad was gone away on business, not for days, but for late hours, she expected her oldest son to accompany her to any event. When he married and moved away, her youngest son was a toddler. She devoted most of her time to him, as her two older daughters were married and I was a teenager. We later found that she shut Dad out of their lives because Dad expected her to support his discipline of the younger son, as she had done, when raising us.
Our older brother was always living far away and really didn't emotionally bond with us three girls, and our younger brother learned to take advantage of Mother's emotional dependency which became a wedge between Mother and Father and also between him and Father.
The sad end to a nearly 60 year marriage was when Daddy was seriously injured and unable to protect his family unity. Mother was alienated from her daughters and died in a nursing home. Our younger brother did not let us know she died - we heard it from friends and all three of us were unwelcome to attend her funeral. I'm sure she now knows who really loved her.
Daughter of Jonathan Silas O'Brien and Mary Hannah Adams.
Married 24 March 1928 at Layton, Davis, Utah to Shirley Harris Craig, son of John David Craig and Laura Maria Harris.
Shirley preceded Rachel 25 September 1987 and is buried alongside her.
They had three daughters: LaVee, Mary Hannah, Shirleen, and two sons. DAR Line current thru Shirleen Craig (living)
Our mother came from a very poor Irish family and always considered herself to be "from the wrong side of the tracks", as she put it. They once had a farm in the gully of Kayscreek, but lost the home and property during hard times. Her father became janitor for a local church house and she related that the $8 a month he got for tending coal bins and sweeping dusty floors was not enough to feed them.
Her father contracted Tuberculosis and died shortly after Dad and Mother married. Her mother also became bedridden ill and died about 15 years later.
Her brothers needed to work rather than attend school regularly. I don't remember her ever talking about any childhood joy or girlish fun she had. In fact, even to this day, I don't know how far she advanced in school. No girl friends were ever mentioned, only a cousin, whom Mother disliked, saying "she thought she was better than everyone else". I don't know why I never noticed this lacking in her life until she became more embittered in later life.
When Mother met Daddy, she was about 14; they married when she was 15 and he 18. Although we thought her story of their wedding night chivaree was a funny event, she evidently held deep resentment that his friends swept him off to, the then dance hall, "Salt Air" to keep him from his bride most of the night. She also related that she had resented it when our father returned from serving in the Navy during World War II because she had been left with all the responsibility of we four children at the time; and she said he was free to play at pool halls, with his buddies, when not on duty. She was angry when he returned a "hero" after the duration of the war, instead of being proud of his service.
They had a nice apartment which was an addition to Dad's childhood home; but being a young bride was not easy with a mother-in-law next door who was so experienced at taking care of a household. Evidently Dad's mother helped her a great deal, but this only made Mother feel less adequate. She also told us girls that she always resented Dad's devotion to his mother. Only hind-site has allowed us to conclude that the low esteem of a deprived little girl shaped her into a secretive, suspicious woman. We girls never understood it, but she seemed to even be jealous of us.
Because Dad was gone away on business, not for days, but for late hours, she expected her oldest son to accompany her to any event. When he married and moved away, her youngest son was a toddler. She devoted most of her time to him, as her two older daughters were married and I was a teenager. We later found that she shut Dad out of their lives because Dad expected her to support his discipline of the younger son, as she had done, when raising us.
Our older brother was always living far away and really didn't emotionally bond with us three girls, and our younger brother learned to take advantage of Mother's emotional dependency which became a wedge between Mother and Father and also between him and Father.
The sad end to a nearly 60 year marriage was when Daddy was seriously injured and unable to protect his family unity. Mother was alienated from her daughters and died in a nursing home. Our younger brother did not let us know she died - we heard it from friends and all three of us were unwelcome to attend her funeral. I'm sure she now knows who really loved her.
Married 24 March 1928 at Layton, Davis, Utah to Shirley Harris Craig, son of John David Craig and Laura Maria Harris.
Shirley preceded Rachel 25 September 1987 and is buried alongside her.
They had three daughters: LaVee, Mary Hannah, Shirleen, and two sons. DAR Line current thru Shirleen Craig (living)
Our mother came from a very poor Irish family and always considered herself to be "from the wrong side of the tracks", as she put it. They once had a farm in the gully of Kayscreek, but lost the home and property during hard times. Her father became janitor for a local church house and she related that the $8 a month he got for tending coal bins and sweeping dusty floors was not enough to feed them.
Her father contracted Tuberculosis and died shortly after Dad and Mother married. Her mother also became bedridden ill and died about 15 years later.
Her brothers needed to work rather than attend school regularly. I don't remember her ever talking about any childhood joy or girlish fun she had. In fact, even to this day, I don't know how far she advanced in school. No girl friends were ever mentioned, only a cousin, whom Mother disliked, saying "she thought she was better than everyone else". I don't know why I never noticed this lacking in her life until she became more embittered in later life.
When Mother met Daddy, she was about 14; they married when she was 15 and he 18. Although we thought her story of their wedding night chivaree was a funny event, she evidently held deep resentment that his friends swept him off to, the then dance hall, "Salt Air" to keep him from his bride most of the night. She also related that she had resented it when our father returned from serving in the Navy during World War II because she had been left with all the responsibility of we four children at the time; and she said he was free to play at pool halls, with his buddies, when not on duty. She was angry when he returned a "hero" after the duration of the war, instead of being proud of his service.
They had a nice apartment which was an addition to Dad's childhood home; but being a young bride was not easy with a mother-in-law next door who was so experienced at taking care of a household. Evidently Dad's mother helped her a great deal, but this only made Mother feel less adequate. She also told us girls that she always resented Dad's devotion to his mother. Only hind-site has allowed us to conclude that the low esteem of a deprived little girl shaped her into a secretive, suspicious woman. We girls never understood it, but she seemed to even be jealous of us.
Because Dad was gone away on business, not for days, but for late hours, she expected her oldest son to accompany her to any event. When he married and moved away, her youngest son was a toddler. She devoted most of her time to him, as her two older daughters were married and I was a teenager. We later found that she shut Dad out of their lives because Dad expected her to support his discipline of the younger son, as she had done, when raising us.
Our older brother was always living far away and really didn't emotionally bond with us three girls, and our younger brother learned to take advantage of Mother's emotional dependency which became a wedge between Mother and Father and also between him and Father.
The sad end to a nearly 60 year marriage was when Daddy was seriously injured and unable to protect his family unity. Mother was alienated from her daughters and died in a nursing home. Our younger brother did not let us know she died - we heard it from friends and all three of us were unwelcome to attend her funeral. I'm sure she now knows who really loved her.
Inscription
CRAIG
Rachel E. O'Brien
Oct 9 1912
Feb 19 2007
Shirley Harris
Feb 3 1910
Sep 25 1987
Gravesite Details
Artwork for the stone's carvings were designed and drawn by their daughter, Shirleen.
Family Members
Siblings
