85° and Sunny
Earl M. O’Brien, Jr. of Alamogordo, NM, age 69, passed away on September 27, 2025, at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, NM after battling a lengthy illness. He was born on October 6, 1955, at Fort Dix, New Jersey to Earl M. O’Brien, Sr. and Sumako (Nakamura) O’Brien.
Earl graduated from Alamogordo High School, Class of 1973. He earned his BS in Journalism in 1990 from NMSU. He taught in the Alamogordo Public School system (AHS, MVMS, and NMSBVI) and obtained his MA in Education from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA in 2004. He continued teaching until he retired.
Earl was always involved in sports from playing baseball and basketball as a kid, to watching his sons play and eventually coaching and refereeing basketball, volleyball, football, and little league baseball where many referred to him as ‘Coach’ even after he stopped coaching.
Earl leaves behind his wife of 47 years, Karen (Allen) O’Brien; two sons, Byron Allen and Patrick O’Brien (Naomi) of Carlsbad, NM; sister, Marrietta O’Brien (Richard Carr, Jr.) of Sierra Vista, AZ. He also leaves behind five grandchildren, Katie O’Brien, Gabriel O’Brien, Ariana O’Brien, Ashleena O’Brien, and Clara Allen.
He was proceeded in death by his parents and his sister, Elizabeth (O’Brien) McKnight.
No services have been planned.
The O’Brien-Allen Family has entrusted their loved one to the care of Alamogordo Funeral Home.
