Page 26 - Al Brown Newsletter

ROBERT J. O’BRIEN AND HIS NEW

BRIDE GERALDINE McCARTHY O’BRIEN
honeymooned at The Cloister in 1947 launching a love affair with the place
that would last until the days they died. The O’Briens loved Sea Island so
much that they would one day make it their home, where they would build
one of the most impressive estates on the most sought-after stretch of
Coastal Georgia.
Cottage 342 at 205 West Seventeenth Street was built originally in
1979 before being transformed to include 12-bedrooms, 13-and-three-half-
bathrooms and 17 fireplaces in 15,010 square feet. The spacious living and
entertainment space is flanked by cozy bedroom wings and enchanting
grounds on 1.55 acres of Coastal Georgia marsh front grandeur. It is on the
market for $19.5 million.
But there is much more to the story of the O’Briens. The couple came
from two different worlds.
Bob O’Brien and Gerry McCarthy grew up under vastly different
circumstances. Bob O’Brien was a very proud man. His grit and
determination developed while supporting his family through the Great
Depression, working for the Ford Motor Company, attending night school at
DePaul and serving in the Navy.
Gerry McCarthy O’Brien grew up the daughter of John V. McCarthy. John
HONEYMOON stepped off the boat as an Irish immigrant, and as a 12-year- old boy, sold
butter on the street. He grew and expanded his butter sales to the point
leads to where he formed the Chicago Butter and Egg Exchange. In 1919, he added
other commodities, rebranded and reorganized it as the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange. Today, R. J. O’Brien and Associates is the only original surviving
LOVE AFFAIR member of the CME and is the largest independent futures brokerage and
clearing firm in the United States.
with love with. Bob and Gerry decided to go to Bermuda on their honeymoon.
Mr. McCarthy saw promise in the young man his daughter had fallen in
SEA ISLAND Gerry was very excited because she had never been out of the country.

But after Gerry purchased a credenza, which Bob had never heard of,

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