Adriana “Ann” Jimeno O’Brien passed away on January 13, 2017 at the St. Vincent’s Hospital in Billings. Ann (or Anna as her dad had called her) was born to Gladys Montana Buhl and Maximeno Charita Jimeno in Butte, Montana on September 1, 1939. She was born in humble beginnings as Gladys and Max made a home in a boxcar her first couple years of life. Max and Gladys eventually purchased an apple orchard in the Biitteroot Valley where they made a home for Ann and her five siblings. As the oldest of five children Ann would tell stories of life on the apple orchard. As a young child and the oldest sibling she would talk about getting in trouble and trying to outrun the closest branch or willow her dad could find. She would say laughing that she could outrun him but eventually would concede to the punishment. A lot of Ann’s character was built upon the lessons she learned on the orchard and the lessons she learned from being raised by a Filipino immigrant father and her determined German mother. These lessons included loyalty, determination and pride of who she was. When Ann was in high school, her father Max sat her down at the table after receiving his citizenship and said “Anna always be proud that you are an American Citizen”.
After high school Ann left to attend school at Eastern Montana College to obtain a teaching degree. The completion of her degree landed her a position in the small town of Poplar, MT, far removed from the Montana in which she grew up in. During her first year she attended a teacher’s dance held at the American Legion where a young Irish cowboy, Patrick O’Brien, asked her to dance and didn’t leave her side after that night. The courtship was quick as Pat did not want to waste any time to make the beautiful Filipina his bride. Patrick and Ann married on June 4, 1960 at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Poplar in a beautiful and elegant wedding hosted by Pat’s mother Amy. Ann was very fond of Amy for how accepting she was of her during a time where mixed relationships were frowned upon. Pat recalled how happy his mother was that he had found the perfect girl by telling his sisters “I really think Patrick loves this girl”.
Just as quickly they courted and married, Pat and Ann wasted no time in building their family. They made a home at the O’Brien homestead north of Poplar where they brought into the world Shannon Marie, Maureen Ann and Colleen Raye three years consecutively. The girls kept Ann busy and as she was quick to say “never gave her body back”. Four years after Colleen was born they finished their family by adding their Father’s Day baby, another girl, Patricia “Patti” Jo. Ann raised her daughters much like she was raised, high expectation and stern discipline. She and Pat pushed their children to exceed academically, pursue music and participate in sports. She enjoyed sitting in the stands during their games, often the loudest one cheering, and especially enjoyed their musical endeavors. Pat and Ann also believed in the merit of hard work and wanted them all to be college educated. All of the girls, despite the resistance, grew up to be much like their mother in that they grew up to be strong-willed, determined women despite odds set before them. They also made their mother and father proud by becoming college educated and three of the four pursuing their mothers’ field of education.
Besides becoming a mother and wife, possibly the most notable and important aspect that was introduced to Ann’s life upon making a home in Poplar was becoming a Catholic. Ann was baptized in the church prior to marrying Patrick in the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Upon becoming a Catholic, Ann was a staple in the church community through the music program and the Women’s Diocese. She enjoyed playing in both the Poplar and Wolf Points parishes, participating in meetings and travelling across the state and country to attend conventions.
Ann’s gift of being a beautiful pianist and singer was also something she shared freely. There has been very few weddings and funerals that she has not played in the Wolf Point and Poplar Communities. She will leave a lasting impression on the Poplar Schools music program and will be forever cherished by students from the last 60 years. Ann accompanied hundreds of choir groups, duets and soloists over the years including her daughters and granddaughters. She also taught piano lessons over the years, hoping to encourage young people to pursue the gift of piano and music. Some of her favorite memories of piano lessons included using shopping catalogs to make sure her smallest piano players could fit at the piano, the moment when the student could play the music correctly and sharing a snack and visiting. Some of her students might notably remember her use of a pencil as a metronome, singing along to the music and staying stuck on the note if it was played wrong and not changing until you corrected it, and her exclamatory remarks of YES when it was done correctly and NO when it wasn’t.
When Ann wasn’t teaching, playing piano or attending church she was often found doing word puzzles, watching sports of any kind (and excessively yelling at the teams if they weren’t doing well), visiting her good friends, eating at restaurants, correcting newspapers for grammatical errors, and travelling. She had a zest for life and travel when she was able. Pat and Ann made many trips to sporting events including Notre Dame Football, University of Washington Football, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Supersonics, University of Montana sporting events, local sporting events and their favorite of all Montana All State Wrestling in Billings. Alongside Ann for 12 years was her beloved dog Stella. Stella was Ann’s best friend and often acted like her as well. Ann enjoyed taking Stella to the groomers, feeding her copious amounts of dog snacks and visiting her. Up until the day Stella passed, they were an inseparable and often humorous duo.
Lastly, Ann absolutely loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was extremely proud to be a grandma and it was something that she did very well; possibly the best around. She loved watching them grow up and opened her home to them whenever they wanted to come or whenever they tried to run away from home. She made sure to travel to their games across the state, attend graduations and of course she loved shopping for them. Each grandchild was loved and adored as they were, she never compromised her love for them and was always forgiving. As for her growing brood of great-grandchildren, they could do absolutely no wrong in her eye. She was very excited to be welcoming two more in 2017.
Ann was a one of a kind personality. She had a great sense of humor, undying loyalty, strong will and determination and most importantly she was unapologetic of who she was. In a world where conformity is expected she never bent to the expectations of others. She never lied to you, if she was pleased you knew and if she wasn’t pleased with you, you definitely knew. Ann also understood grief and heartache and was great at consoling people at funerals, feeds, and ceremonies. She made sure to always bring large amounts of food, a big hug, a joke or two and a big smile. She understood and respected the Assiniboine and Sioux cultures and was embraced by hundreds of families on the reservation, to which she resided, for her respect and participation in these practices.
Ann is survived by her husband Patrick O’Brien; daughters Shannon (Jim) Murphy of St. Ignatius, Maureen O’Brien of Bothell, WA, Colleen O’Brien of Missoula, and Patti Jo (Dusty) Black of Wolf Point, MT; Grandchildren Michael O’Brien, Jerome (Colleen) O’Brien, Mandy (Scott) Berens, Ryan (Ashley) O’Brien, Adriann (Griffin), Kaileen (James) Stovern, and Mattie McChesney; Adopted grandson Frank “Bosh” Gourneau III; Great-Grandchildren Dylan, Alliana, JJ, Jose, Kaniel, Kai, Valentina, Grady, Craig, Cailey, Nevina, Baby Stovern and Baby Berens; Brother Gerald (Jane) Jimeno of Libby, MT; Sisters Gladys “Toots” Jimeno of Spokane, WA, Carol Jimeno of Bellingham, WA and Cheri (Tom Yahraes) Jimeno of Nine Mile Falls, WA; Brother-In-Law Raymond (Saralou) O’Brien; Sister-in-Law Patricia O’Brien; Uncle Orphus Buhl of Wardner, ID; Close friends George Sanders, Mary Thorton, Sally George Wright and Elouise Smith; numerous nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends. We apologize for those way may have failed to mention.
She is preceded in death by her parents Max and Gladys Jimeno; Brother Max. Jr; Maternal Grandparents Fred and May Alice Buhl; Paternal Grandparents Flabino and Maria Charita Jimeno; mother and father in law Raymond Sr. and Amy O’Brien; Sibling-In-Laws Mary Ann Driemeyer, Irene and Don Linthicum, Lorraine and Bill Gaitlin, and Stephen O’Brien; Nephew Terry Smith; Nieces Amy Lou Linthicum and Sherry O’Brien; Great-Nephew Landon Park; and Great-Nieces Annette Linthicum and Chelsea Marchwick.
A rosary will be held on Friday January 20 at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Poplar at 7PM and full funeral mass will be held January 21 st at the church at 11 with a burial to follow at the Poplar Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the local catholic parishes or donation to Patrick O’Brien for the 2017 Ann O’Brien Music Scholarship for Poplar Schools.
Though she was small, she truly was a large in mighty and strength. She hoped to leave a legacy in which people will recall her fondly, and after the extreme outpouring of memories and love, we know that she has. She is an irreplaceable human being, truly one of a kind. We are so thankful that she made her way to the little corner of Montana to build our family, alongside Patrick. Though we could have used more time, the faith she shared assures us one day we will see her beautiful smile and hear her big laugh again.