Reverend A.L. O'Brien Memorial Highway: Remembering a Locally Beloved Evangelist.

After his passing on February 4th, 1991, the community of Starks, Louisiana in western Calcasieu Parish saw to dedicating a portion of Highway 109 to the late Reverend A. L. O'Brien. He was the pastor at First Pentecostal Church for over 35 years and an active member of the Starks community. A. L. O'Brien was born on June 30th, 1922 in Pickering, Louisiana. After graduating high school, he moved to Lake Charles and converted to the Pentecostal faith at age 17. While living there, he assisted Reverend J. W. Evans for twelve years. During this time, he married Emily Donahue and fathered their child, Roger, in December of 1944. After he and his wife worked as Evangelists for a year, A. L. O'Brien served as a pastor in Topsy and Indian village at their respective Pentecostal churches. In July of 1954, he found his lifelong pastoral position at First Pentecostal Church in Starks, Louisiana. When he took on the pastorate at First Pentecostal, the church was in the process of building a new sanctuary for worship. He oversaw this and saw that the building was completed in 1956. In 1961, a new educational building for the church was completed and dedicated to Roger O'Brien, his son who passed away in 1960 after a battle with pneumonia. Through his time with the congregation, even as members came and went, the numbers saw tremendous growth. Eventually, Reverend O'Brien saw this and decided that more space was needed to accommodate the church and its services. By 1973, a new complex for the church was completed and dedicated. Reverend O'Brien served his congregation and community for over three decades before passing away on February 4th, 1991. After his passing, it was proposed that a portion of Louisiana Highway 109 in Calcasieu Parish be named in his honor. Today, the Memorial Highway passes directly beside First Pentecostal Church in Starks, Louisiana, where his memory and legacy lives on in the community he loved and that loved him in return.