Obituaries

Nancye Evelyn Smoot O'Brien Helmer, 105, fell asleep in Christ and rose to eternal life on the evening of March 26, 2026, at her son's home in Leitchfield, Kentucky.

Nancye was born to the late Sterling Wilson Smoot and Nannie Aimeta Kenney Smoot on October 20, 1920, in Moorefield, Nicholas County, Kentucky, and was raised by her parents in Nicholas County.

She was the sister of the late Elzie Noel Clark and Wilburn L. Clark, and of the late Rector W., Orris K., and Matthew R. Smoot. She was married to John Paul O'Brien, Sr., and Edward Helmer, both of whom predeceased her.

She is the loving Mother of three children, all of whom are living: Patrick J. O'Brien, Sr. (Joye) of Lexington, Kentucky; Anita Faye O'Brien McCormick (Ron) of California, Kentucky; and John P. O'Brien, Jr. formerly of Northern Kentucky, now residing in Leitchfield, Kentucky.

After she and Mr. O'Brien married, she lived from the late 1930s, until 2021, in Campbell, Kenton, and Boone Counties in Northern Kentucky. From September, 2021, until she passed away, she resided at her son's home.

Nancye attended schools in Nicholas County, including the Miranda, Cane Run, and Carlisle elementary schools; she graduated from Carlisle High School in 1937, at the age of 16. She worked for the Kroger Company during World War II; for B & B Electric in Covington, Kentucky, after the war; and for many years with the Kentucky Department of Revenue and the United States Treasury Department, from which she retired in October, 1982.

Nancye was an accomplished vocalist. During her early youth she sang in her Methodist church choir, was a soloist in elementary school programs, and was a member of her high school's chorus. She was a member of the Federal Bicentennial Chorus in 1976; the Sweet Adelines; the casts of several musical productions of the Kincaid Regional Theater, Falmouth, Kentucky; the cast of the Cotton Follies to benefit Redwood School in Northern Kentucky; and the Community Chorus of Florence, Kentucky. She was a choir member at All Saints Church, Walton, Kentucky, and, when she was in her 80s, a member of the choir of Saints Peter and Paul Church, California, Kentucky.

Nancye was a creative and prolific quilter, crocheter, knitter, and seamstress, all of which she learned from her mother. Beginning at her retirement in 1982, and continuing for the next four decades, she crocheted dozens of colorful afghans and handstitched dozens of very detailed quilts, completing her final quilt when she was 98 years old and her final afghan when she was 100. Twenty of her quilts and afghans were awarded ribbons, including four blue ribbons, at the Campbell County Fair.

Nancye found tremendous joy in being with her children and grandchildren. In addition to her three beloved children, she is the loving grandmother of seven surviving grandchildren: Patrick Jamie O'Brien, Jr. (Shirley), Laura Leslie O'Brien Collins (Gary), Wendy Helene O'Brien DeHart (Bob), Joan Marie Wilbers McCall (Alex), James Wilbers (Michele), Nicholas Michael O'Brien, and Susan Elizabeth O'Brien Deletti (Garrett). She is the loving great-grandmother of Katy and Conor O'Brien; Ethan and Patrick Marlowe; Alexandra Martin Adkins; James, Joseph, Natalie, Jeremiah, and Olivia Wilbers; Alexander DeHart; and Rebecca Elise Thomas O'Brien, Gabriel Nicholas Deletti, and Rory O'Brien Deletti; and the loving great-great-grandmother of several great-great-grandchildren. Three beloved grandchildren, Michael J. Wilbers, Josephine Maria O'Brien, and John Paul O'Brien, III, predeceased her. She is also survived by double-first cousins Ann "Roonie" Shea Smith and Sue Shea Schartzer, whose late mother, Christine Smoot Shea of Millersburg, Kentucky, had a lifelong, close relationship with Mom; by nieces, Erin O'Brien Richardson and Linda Smoot Doyle; and by a stepson, Mike Helmer (Linda). Even after she was no longer able to initiate communication or to express herself clearly, many dear friends faithfully and regularly stayed in touch with her: Ann Record, Stan and Anita Geiger, Norma Rebholz, and the Schadler family of California, Kentucky; choir members and the Ladies of Saints Peter and Paul Church, California, Kentucky; and Wanda Elliot of Dry Ridge, Kentucky. Also while Nancye was living in Leitchfield, Benna O'Brien visited her regularly, and Sue Shea Shartzer and Paula Helmer Hopewell wrote to her often.

The O'Brien family expresses its heartfelt gratitude to Alla Kozina, who gave Nancye outstanding, consistent, patient, and compassionate personal care from October, 2022, until her passing, enabling her to live in comfort and dignity, free from the confines of a nursing home. They also express their heartfelt gratitude to Nancye's hospice-care nurse, Alicia Stinson, who faithfully cared for her over the last 21 months of her life on Earth.

Visitation for Nancye is scheduled at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, California, Kentucky, from 9am to 10:30am, April 1, 2026. The Rosary will be prayed for her immediately after visitation, followed by a requiem Mass, presided over by Msgr. Gerald Reinersman. After Mass Nancye is to be laid to rest beside John P. O'Brien, Sr., in Peach Grove Cemetery, Highway 154, Peach Grove, Kentucky. In the afternoon, family and friends are invited to gather in the Social Hall of Saints Peter and Paul School.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the music program of Saints Peter and Paul Church and School, California, Kentucky.