Conan O’Brien pays tribute to his late parents after they died days apart

Conan O’Brien is sharing sweet childhood memories of his beloved late parents.

The comedian’s mom, Ruth Reardon O’Brien, died at age 92. just three days after his dad, renowned physician Dr. Thomas O’Brien, passed away on Dec. 9 at age 95.

O’Brien reflected on their lives in a new interview with The Boston Globe.

“I think what my mother and father saw in each other was that they were kindred spirits,” the 61-year-old told the outlet in the interview published on Dec. 17. “They were incredibly hard-working and disciplined.”

O’Brien’s father was an epidemiologist and Harvard professor who cofounded the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance. Throughout his career, he traveled the world to help train and consult with fellow doctors internationally on the topic.

O’Brien told one story, in particular, about his dad, highlighting the doctor’s work ethic.

“My dad was the dreamer,” he said. “My dad was the one who was saying, ‘I’m off to Peru with a change of clothes in my briefcase to try and launch this website for a hospital there high in the mountains.’”

One year, the physician let O’Brien miss school so they could attend an international work trip together.

“He took me on a trip through South America when I was, I think, in seventh grade,” he told the paper. “He thought, ‘You’re going to learn more traveling through these various neighborhoods and cities in South America for a week and a half than you will in public school in Brookline.’ I think he put the travel bug in me.”

And that he did. O’Brien went on to incorporate international travel into his TBS talk show and hosted the Emmy-nominated Max travel series “Conan O’Brien Must Go.”

The podcast host described his mother as “heroic,” as she balanced life as a lawyer and a parent to six children. Ruth and Thomas, who were married for 66 years, raised O’Brien and his five siblings — Neal, Luke, Kate, Jane and Justin.

“My mom was the one who really saw to it when we were little kids that we were fed and our clothes were laid out, and that we got to our dental appointments and medical appointments. She’s doing all this mom stuff, and when that was done, rushing into a phone booth and becoming Ruth O’Brien, second woman partner at Ropes & Gray,” the producer reflected.

Despite her hectic schedule, O’Brien noted his mom was quick to volunteer her services if older people in the neighborhood needed assistance: “She would rush in and help take care of their legal problems.”

“If anyone was unhappy around my mom in a 50-mile radius, she thought it was incumbent on her to fix the problem,” he explained. “It did not make her life easy, but it was very much a part of her Catholic drive – that ‘I have to be of service to people.’ And good God, she was.”

As for Thomas, he “thought it was important to hear people’s stories,” O’Brien said.

“He cared deeply about people who were very different from him,” the “Saturday Night Live” alum added, “and from completely different backgrounds. That’s the real beauty of his legacy.”

It was announced earlier this month that Thomas’ “health had been failing,” per The Boston Globe. Ruth died “peacefully,” according to her obituary shared by the Bell-O’Dea Funeral Home.

“Science has said there’s no such thing as perpetual motion, but my father was proof that that was wrong,” O’Brien told The Boston Globe at the time. “My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything – absolutely everything.”

He noted that his dad was “often the funniest guy in the room.” According to the Globe, Thomas also introduced his and Ruth’s six children to Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers’ movies.

“The loudest I’ve ever heard anybody laugh was sitting next to him in a theater watching Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther movie,” O’Brien recalled in his tribute. “And when he would laugh, his whole body would convulse and he would almost hug himself.”

“For the rest of my time on earth I will be hearing from people who want to talk with me about my dad,” continued the celebrity. “I’ve never met anyone like him, and he happens to be my father. If I met him randomly in a hotel lobby, I’d think, ‘Who the hell is this guy? He’s the most interesting person I’ve ever met.’”