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The holiday season may never feel the same again for Conan O’Brien after his beloved parents, Dr. Thomas O’Brien and Ruth Reardon O’Brien, passed away within just three days of each other. The tragedy has reportedly left the 61-year-old TV host reeling as he prepares for a Christmas marked by grief.
Conan’s father, Thomas, a revered physician, passed away on Monday, Dec. 9, at the age of 95. Meanwhile, his mother, Ruth, followed shortly after, dying peacefully at their family home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Dec. 12, aged 92, as confirmed in an obituary published after his mom’s passing.
In an interview for a separate obituary for Thomas published by the Boston Globe earlier in the week, the former Conan host paid tribute to his dad, saying, “Science has said there’s no such thing as perpetual motion, but my father was proof that that was wrong. My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything — absolutely everything.”
Reflecting on their bond, he described his father as a man brimming with curiosity and humor: “The loudest I’ve ever heard anybody laugh was sitting next to him in a theater watching Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther movie … He was often the funniest guy in the room. And when he would laugh, his whole body would convulse and he would almost hug himself.”
He added, “For the rest of my time on earth I will be hearing from people who want to talk with me about my dad. I’ve never met anyone like him, and he happens to be my father.”
Tributes poured in following the news of O’Brien’s parents. The TV personality’s colleagues and fans extended their condolences on X.
The O’Briens’ enduring connection spanned sixty-six years of marriage, making their near-simultaneous deaths both heart-wrenching and eerily poetic. While their passing may seem like a tragic coincidence, it is not uncommon for aging couples to die in close succession.
Experts refer to this phenomenon as the “widowhood effect,” a term backed by studies documenting the heightened risk of mortality for grieving spouses. According to the National Council on Aging, losing a partner can increase one’s risk of dying by up to 66% within the first three months. This heartbreaking reality has been attributed to the physical and emotional tolls of caregiving, the physiological impacts of profound grief, and the abrupt changes in a surviving spouse’s life.
In some cases, the intense bond between couples can even lead to medical conditions like Takotsubo cardiomyopathy — more commonly known as “broken heart syndrome.” This condition, triggered by extreme stress or trauma, weakens the heart muscle and leads to the tangible effects of losing a lifelong partner.
Although the exact causes of death for Conan’s parents remain undisclosed, the Boston Globe noted that his father’s health had been declining in recent months. The family now plans to honor the couple’s meaningful and aspirational lives with a joint funeral in Boston on Dec. 18.
Ruth was one of the only four women in the Yale Law School class of 1956, and she became a real estate attorney after graduating. On the other hand, Thomas was a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School for three decades, according to their obituaries.