Conan O’Brien’s mother dies 3 days after his father’s death

Conan O’Brien’p the family faces an unimaginable loss.

The former late night host’s mother Ruth O’Brien died December 12 at the age of 92, three days after his father Dr. Thomas O’Brien died at the age of 95.

Both of Conan’s parents were pioneers in their field, with Ruth, according to her, being only one of four women in her Yale Law School class of 1956 obituary. Becoming a real estate attorney, she was the second woman to become a partner at her law firm in 1978. She retired in 1996 after 25 years.

Meanwhile Thomas – who also shared children Neal, Jane, Justin, Kate and Luke with his wife of 66 years – was a doctor, epidemiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School for three decades, per Boston Globe. During his career, Thomas worked diligently to address the threats posed by drug-resistant strains of microbes by pioneering the use of databases to allow doctors to respond quickly to outbreaks.

Although Thomas was a known expert in his field, Conan– who share children Fist21 and Beckett19, with wife Liza Powell O’Brien—also reflected on his father beyond his career.