May O’ Brien was born in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, and at the age of five, was taken to Mount Margaret Mission where she spent the next twelve years. She taught in Western Australian rural and metropolitan primary schools for twenty-five years. May served in a number of other positions before being appointed Superintendent of Aboriginal Education, a position she held until her early retirement in 1988. May O’ Brien was born in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, and at the age of five, was taken to Mount Margaret Mission where she spent the next twelve years. She taught in Western Australian rural and metropolitan primary schools for twenty-five years. May served in a number of other positions before being appointed Superintendent of Aboriginal Education, a position she held until her early retirement in 1988.