Lt. Col Henry ‘Harry” O’Beirne, 84, of Huntsville, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Lt. O’Beirne was born August 16,1937 in Dublin, Ireland. He immigrated to the US in 1958 where he spent a year with family in Brooklyn, NY before enlisting in the US Air Force. While in the Air Force he trained to become a Pararescue Jumper; and then went on to volunteer for two tours of duty in Vietnam where he earned 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses after performing over 350 flying missions. He then left the Air Force to attend nursing school at UAB and earned a BS in Nursing, then graduated Nurse Anesthesia school at UAB in 1974. While at UAB he met and married the love of his life, Tommie Jean Gibson, and was married for over 55 years. Harry later saw more military action in Desert Storm in 1990 and then retired from the military as a Lt. Colonel with over 27 years of service.
Survivors include his wife, Tommie; sons, Kevin, Sean and Brian; daughter-in-law, Cassie; seven grandchildren, Ansley, Emma, Aidan, Ian, Mollie, Ronan and Brynn; brother, Walter O’Beirne; sister-in-law, Joan; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20th, at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. The funeral mass will be at 1:00 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21st, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church with Father Michael Mac Mahon officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery.
