Obituary of Thomas Daniel Breen

Thomas Daniel  passed away Sunday December 11, 2016. Thomas, the eldest son of Arthur and Anastasia Breen, was born in Brooklyn December 5, 1929, and grew up in Elmhurst, Queens.  A graduate of Fordham University, he served as an officer with the United States Army during the Korean War. Thomas and his wife Mary settled in Douglaston, New York, where they reared their eight children. He retired from the New York Telephone Company in 1990 after 36 years of service. He is survived by Mary, his wife of 61 years, his eight children, one brother, six sisters,  22 grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a brother, Philip Breen, and a sister, Ann Breen.  Dad learned to play the bagpipes as a teenager with the County Tyrone Pipe Band. In 1960, he became a founding member of the Inis Fada Gaelic Pipe Band of the Long Island Irish Society, and later played with the Eastern Long Island Police Pipes and Drums. At Mom and Dad’s 50th anniversary party, he was honored to play a set with several of his sons and grandsons. He was proud of his Irish heritage, strong in his Catholic faith, and most of all, had a wonderful sense of family that he has passed on to us all. We will miss him.  Donations to Jesuit Foreign Missions or Dominican Sisters of Amityville in lieu of flowers.