A memorial service was held on Sunday, Feb. 28 at Grove Reformed Church in North Bergen, for Lois Wiltse O’Brien, 73, of Weehawken. She passed away Feb. 16. Born in Watertown, N.Y., Lois was the daughter of former New York state Jefferson County Judge Milton Wiltse and Myrle Wiltse and grew up in LaFargeville, N.Y. Lois graduated from LaFargeville Central School as the valedictorian of the class of 1960. She then attended Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, graduating in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and completing a Masters in Education degree, also at Syracuse University, in 1965.
In 1965 Lois moved to Ridgewood and accepted a position as a junior high school history teacher, beginning what was a 14 year career in education. As part of this vocation, she was a member of the faculty of the School of Education at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck in the 1970s. She also served on the Board of Education of Weehawken from 1973 to 1977.
In 1979 Lois switched careers, joining U.S. Testing located in Hoboken, which later was acquired by SGS, a multinational company headquartered in Switzerland which provides inspection, verification, testing, and certification services. This began a nearly 30 year career in the area of quality assurance consulting and training, with Lois rising to one of the highest executive levels at SGS and traveling all around the world for her distinguished career. Lois retired from SGS on June 30, 2008.
Lois is survived by her two children, daughter Cara O’Brien and son Liam O’Brien and his wife Amy Kincaid; her two grandchildren Owen O’Brien and Zoe O’Brien; her sister Ula Wiltse Alton and twin brother Milton Wiltse; and several cousins and nieces and nephews.