Mary Ann O’Hara

Mary Ann O?Hara, a long-time Washington area resident, died on January 24, 2013 at Inova Alexandria Hospital. Mrs. O?Hara was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and moved to Tokyo, Japan in 1953, where she worked for the US Government, as a civilian secretary at the Joint Far East Command/United Nations Headquarters. She left Japan in 1954 and traveled from the Far East to Europe by freighter. After a fire on the freighter off the coast of Singapore sunk the ship and she lost all her personal belongings, she worked in Wiesbaden, Germany, at the Air Force Headquarters, as secretary to the Director of Public Information for the Air Force in Europe.She returned to the States in 1955 and married John P. O?Hara, whom she met in Tokyo, where he was stationed as a Marine Lieutenant. At the time of their marriage, Mr. O?Hara was an FBI agent, assigned to the Spartanburg, South Carolina office.Mrs. O?Hara moved to the Washington area in 1962 with her husband, when he accepted a position on Capitol Hill, where he worked for 25 years. When Mr. O?Hara retired as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the Public Works and Transportation Committee, they moved to Los Angeles for a few years, where he worked for the old Flying Tiger Airline as Director of Corporate Security. They returned to the Washington area in 1990, where Mr. O?Hara was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to serve as President of Legal Services Corporation.After returning to the Washington, D.C. area, Mrs. O?Hara worked at the AARP headquarters, retiring in 1997, as Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director of AARP. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Geary-O?Hara Family Foundation. After retiring, they lived in Spring Hill, Florida for several years, and later in Las Vegas, Nevada, until Mr. O?Hara passed away and she returned to Alexandria, VA. to live. Travelling was always a very important part of her life, and she was very happy to have travelled all over the world.She is preceded in death by her husband, John, her sister, Lola Pratt, and brother, James Leavey. She is survived by her three daughters: Ann Carroll, of Alexandria, Kathleen Geary, of Arlington, and Dr. Maureen Padden of Pensacola, Florida. She is also survived by her six grandchildren: Caitlin Geary, Jonathan and Ashley Carroll, and Baillie, Sean and Shayne Padden.A memorial service will be celebrated on Thursday, February 7 at 11am at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church in Alexandria, VA. Friends and family will be welcomed at Cunningham Turch Funeral Home, 811 Cameron Street, Alexandria VA. on Wednesday, February 6 from 2-4pm and 6-9pm.