Charles Herbert O'Brien (July 30, 1920 – January 18, 2007), was a

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

in the 83rd and 84th Tennessee General Assemblies, a justice of the

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals The Court of Criminal Appeals is one of Tennessee's two intermediate appellate courts. It hears trial court appeals in felony and misdemeanor cases, as well as post-conviction petitions. Appeals in civil cases are heard by the Tennessee Court of ...

(elected in 1970) and Tennessee Supreme Court (1987–1994), and the husband of well-known Tennessee Democratic politician

Anna Belle Clement O'Brien Anna Belle Clement O'Brien (May 6, 1923 – August 31, 2009) was a Tennessee politician, nicknamed "the first lady of Tennessee politics." She served as the governor's chief of staff from 1963 to 1967, was a member of the Tennessee House of Repr ...

, who was the sister of the Tennessee Governor

Frank G. Clement Frank Goad Clement (June 2, 1920 – November 4, 1969) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1967. Inaugurated for the first time at age 32, he was the state's younge ...

and served as her brother's chief of staff and as a state senator.

Biography

O'Brien was born July 30, 1920, in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Herbert Rogers O'Brien and Agnes Montanya O'Brien. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He attended

Cumberland Law School Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...

, graduating in 1947, and practiced law in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

from 1948 to 1967 and in

Crossville, Tennessee Crossville is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Crossville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,071 at the 2020 census. History Crossville developed at the inters ...

from 1967 to 1970. He was elected to the state legislature as a representative from Memphis in 1960. In 1970 he was elected to the Court of Criminal Appeals, where he served until 1987 when he was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Governor

Ned Ray McWherter Ned Ray McWherter (October 15, 1930April 4, 2011) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee, from 1987 to 1995. Prior to that, he served as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 19 ...

. He served on that court for seven years, retiring in 1994. Earlier that year he had become chief justice. O'Brien married Anna Belle Clement in 1966. They remained married at the time of his death in 2007. He died in Crossville from complications of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. He had a son and two daughters by a previous marriage; his daughters, Diane Solomon and Heather O'Brien survived him.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Charles H. Tennessee state senators 1920 births 2007 deaths People from Orange, New Jersey Chief Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court 20th-century American judges People from Memphis, Tennessee People from Crossville, Tennessee 20th-century American politicians United States Army personnel of World War II