Margaret O'Brien

Margaret (Margie) O’Brien passed away Sept. 29, 2015 in Scottsdale. She spent 15 years as a “snowbird” in Fountain Hills with her daughter and family. She enjoyed tennis, yoga, cards and shopping, and going out to lunch.

Margie’s life spanned the entertainment field into radio and TV and newspaper. At the age of six after winning a talent contest sponsored by the Denver Post, she was guided in her career by an editor of the Post who acted as a booking agent.

She danced professionally for over eight years on the RKO and Pantages circuits. She continued her education at St. Francis De Sales School in Denver, Colo., where she grew up. She married Paul O’Brien in 1940 and they moved to Cheyenne, Wyo., where he was employed in the Wyoming Highway Dept.

She began her local broadcasting career in Cheyenne in 1949 hosting a 45-minute daily radio program on KFBC. In 1954 she started a daily show on KFBC Television and hosted both programs through 1962, when she and her husband moved to Phoenix and bought KRIZ Radio Station.

They returned and she worked for the Cheyenne newspaper and also served as co-editor of the women’s section of the Sunday Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.

From 1970 until 1985 she was national sales manager for Wyneco, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado television stations KYCU, KSTF, and KTVS. She hosted a public service program during “noonday” and “midday” from 1970-1979 and co-anchored the noon news for more than two years. In 1985 she hosted a radio program on KLEN-FM called “Around Town” until 1995.

She was a member and president of Wyoming Press Women, member of American Women in Radio and Television, Women’s Civic League, Bishop’s Guild and an honorary member of American Business Women’s Association.

She received the Jaycee Distinguished Service Award in 1977, March of Dimes Volunteer of the Year award 1979-1980, National Federation of Press Women Journalism award in 1970 for first place in a TV commercial and 1978 Public Service award first place for a radio newscast. She was the public relations director for Democratic headquarters during the Johnson/Goldwater campaign.

She also worked in the Wyoming State Legislature in 1965.

Margie studied yoga in workshops from California to Cambridge, Mass. from 1981 through 1998, always learning. She taught yoga classes from 1982 to 2005 at LCCC, Depaul Hospital, and United Medical Center/Health & Fitness, where she received a 10-year service award.

Margie is survived by a daughter, Patti Gookin of Fountain Hills; granddaughters, Kelly Marquis of Colorado Springs, Colo. and Molly Gookin of Scottsdale.