Katherine May O’Brien, beloved sister and aunt, tireless advocate for metastatic breast cancer patients, and brilliant writer, passed away surrounded by her family on Saturday, June 19th. She is preceded in death by her parents James and Elaine, and is survived by her brothers Jim (Michelle), John (Shannon),  Kevin (Sarah), Patrick (Maggie), and Peter, and her sister Ellen (Michael Cleary). She will be deeply missed by her 16 nieces and nephews and many friends, to whom she was affectionately known as “Doots.” Katherine traveled the world as editor-in-chief of American Printer Magazine. Once she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2009, she quickly became well-known for her writing, empathy, and wit as a patient advocate. Katherine sat on the board of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network and amused more than 4000 people on Twitter with her incisive musings.

The visitation is Monday, June 21st from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at Hallowell & James Funeral Home, 1025 W. 55th St., Countryside. Chapel prayers 9:15am Tuesday, June 22nd at the funeral home followed by 10:00 AM Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, LaGrange. Mass will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/SFXParish.LG/live/. Family and friends are invited to meet at 12:30 PM at the cemetery office of Ascension Catholic Cemetery, 1920 Buckley Rd., Libertyville for interment. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University for Metastatic Breast Cancer Research. Funeral Home Phone: 708-352-6500