A Funeral Mass for Edna Marie O'Brien Allen will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 17, 2012, at The Cathedral of St. John Berchmans, officiated by Father Pike Thomas. Interment will follow at Forest Park Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 16th, at Osborn Funeral Home. Edna Marie was born on January 31, 1931, in Shreveport, Louisiana and passed away peacefully at home on August 14, 2012, after a lengthy illness. Edna Marie graduated from C. E. Byrd High School and attended LSU-Baton Rouge where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority. The birth of her daughter, Beth, was a special gift for Edna Marie and her family that multiplied many times over in the community and led to Edna Marie and Bill becoming co-founders and original board members of Holy Angels Residential Facility, a home for children and adults with special needs. Edna Marie was active in several organizations within the community. She served on the committee that founded Special Olympics of Northwest Louisiana, was an original partner in the Strand Theater helping to renovate the Theater for Performing Arts, was a Patron to the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, a member of the Caddo-Bossier Association for Retarded Children, served as President of Shreveport Beautification, and was a Schumpert Medical Center Board member. In 2003 she was one of three recipients of the Samaritan Award, along with Rev. Mack McCarter and Bishop William Friend, for recognition of her contributions to improve quality of life through education, art, health and medical research. Edna Marie was preceded in death by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Randell Whitmeyer, her husband, William J. O'Brien, Jr.; second husband, Charles W. Allen; and her daughter, Beth O'Brien. She is survived by her children, Bill O'Brien, III and wife, Maria, Morgan O'Brien and Leigh Ann O'Brien, Mimi Gardner and husband, Chris and Thomas O'Brien and wife, Pam; grandchildren, Nicole Snyder and husband, Ashley, Ellie Hudnall and husband, Matt, William O'Brien, IV and wife, Jorie, Berret Gardner, Caroline Gardner, Lindsey O'Brien, Mary Morgan O'Brien, Claire O'Brien and Whit O'Brien; great-grandson, Liam O'Brien; siblings, Betty Lou Alexander Hawkins and husband, Walter, Frederick Whitmeyer, Claudius Whitmeyer and wife, Glynda; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Pallbearers will be William O'Brien, IV, Whit O'Brien, Matt Hudnall, Ashley Snyder, Jimmy Alexander and Kirk LaVigne. So many helped keep Edna Marie comfortable and cared for her in recent years. The Family would like to thank her sitters, Gloria T., Gloria R., Brenda, Mercie, Pat and LaToya. The family would like to express their gratitude to all of these fine ladies, for their dedication, compassionate care, and professionalism. Mom would not have made it without the daily support of Sue Castore, Tosha Lester, Toni Rock, Robert Jack and Juanita Williams, all of whose friendship and assistance through the years cannot be overstated. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Holy Angels Residential Facility, 10450 Ellerbe Rd, Shreveport, LA 71106.