“She found solace in gardening. She loved butterflies. She had a beautiful selection of pots that she’d fill with flowers and then have to work to keep the deer from eating them,” Gerry O’Brian said of his sister, Denise O’Brian-Lutkins, who died of cardiopulmonary arrest at home in Montauk on Aug. 16. She was 60.
She had been the head of sales and incentives for Pitney Bowes in Stamford, Conn., working until spine injuries sustained in a car accident roughly 30 years ago forced her onto disability.
Despite a long history of chronic pain, Ms. O’Brian-Lutkins spent hours making artwork. A self-taught painter, she would fill canvases with colorful swirls, some with the appearance of underwater scenes, others influenced by the night sky.
Before her injuries, Ms. O’Brian-Lutkins enjoyed traveling to go scuba diving, visiting many spots in the Caribbean and Mexico. She split her time between living with her mother, who survives her, in Montauk and Sarasota, Fla., where, her brother said, she was fond of the geckos, which she would allow to crawl up her arms.
She was born on Jan. 26, 1964, in Essex County, N.J., to Dennis Martin O’Brian and the former Zita Burns, and grew up in Darien, Conn., graduating from Darien High School. She would go on to marry Peter Lutkins. The marriage ended in divorce. Mr. Lutkins died before her.
She was a great-grandniece of the Rev. Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, who is under consideration for sainthood.
In addition to her mother and her brother, who lives in Fairfield, Conn., Ms. O’Brian-Lutkins is survived by her daughter, Sairah Lutkins of New Haven. She also leaves a grandson, Kain Carter, and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws.
A service was held last Thursday at St. Pius X Parish in Fairfield, the Rev. Brendan Blawie officiating, with burial at Spring Grove Cemetery in Darien. Memorial contributions have been suggested to the Thomas More Center, 27781 Leef Road, Webster, Wisc. 54893
