Conan O’Brien pays tribute to his late parents after they died days apart: ‘They were kindred spirits’

nypost.com:

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 a 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,” O’Brien 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.