Alla O’Brien, 95, of Auburndale, Massachusetts died on July 23, 2018. Ms. O’Brien was born in Jersey City, New Jersey where she completed high school before entering Wellesley College in 1940. She majored in chemistry at Wellesley and joined the Evans Research and Development Corporation following her graduation in 1944. In 1952, she moved to American Cyanamid rising to the level of Advertising Supervisor in the Industrial Chemicals Division. In 1959, she joined Avon Products. At a time when advancement for women in business was quite limited, Ms. O’Brien rose to the position of Vice President, Advertising and Public Relations, one of only three women out of fifty in vice presidential positions at Avon at that time. In 1975, she was recruited to Wellesley College by then president, Barbara Newell, as Vice President for College Relations. In the same year, she also joined the Board of Directors of the Putnam Fund in Boston. She later joined the Putman Fund as Trustee and Senior Vice President of Shareholder Relations where she remained until her retirement. Ms. O’Brien was also a member of the Board of Stanley Home Products from which she retired in 1995. Since 2003 she had resided in Lasell Village in Auburndale where she held several positions on resident committees. She started the Benevolent Fund at Lasell for residents with no family to Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Wellesley where she served as a scripture reader at weekend masses, on various committees, and as a member of Voice of the Faithful following the revelations concerning child abuse in the Boston Archdiocese. She was also a volunteer for various local charities including St. Mary’s Shelter in Dorchester. She was a committed supporter of Massachusetts Fallen Heroes.
Alla is survived by her nephews, Vincent, David, John, Brian, Paul, James and Mark McAuliffe. Her sister, Jeanne McAuliffe, her brother, Joseph O’Brien, her nephew, Thomas McAuliffe, and her parents, Aloysia Purcell and Joseph O’Brien, preceded her in death. Ms. O’Brien was a devoted, engaged, and vital presence to her eight nephews, 17 grandnephews and nieces, and her 10 great, great grandnephews and nieces.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for Monday, July 30, at 11:00 AM at St. John the Evangelist Church, 9 Glen Rd. Wellesley. Interment will be private. An hour of visitation will be held immediately prior to the Mass from 10-11AM in the Henry J. Burke & Sons Funeral Home, 56 Washington St. Wellesley.