Captain Robert M. Breen

Providence Captain Robert M. Breen, 69, of Coolridge Avenue and Maui, Hawaii, died Sunday, December 20, 2009 at his home in Hawaii. He was the beloved husband of Ellen Belconis Breen. Born in Providence, he was a son of the late Joseph L. and Etheldreda H. (McKenna) Breen. Captain Breen was a commercial airline pilot for Evergreen International Airlines for twenty five years, retiring in 2000. His profession took him around the world, probably several times, and began when he earned his Commercial Pilot's License and Instrument rating in 1959, at the age of 19. His interest in aviation continued during his enlistment in the United States Army in 1962, where he served as an air traffic controller. He continued his career in aviation flying everything from a Glider to a Boeing 747-100, and nearly every aircraft in between, logging in over twenty-five thousand hours during his tenure. He was the proud owner of a Cessna 170 as his personal aircraft. Beside his wife, he leaves a step-daughter, Patricia Fontana; a step-son, Gary Belconis; a brother, Reverend Joseph A. Breen, OP; two nieces, Carolyn A. Sweeney and Joanne M. Wittman; three nephews, William E. Sweeney, Joseph L. Sweeney and Michael J. Sweeney, (Ret PPD.); two step-grandchildren, and a step-great-grandson. He was a brother of the late James W. Breen and Barbara M. Sweeney, and uncle of the late Daniel G. Sweeney. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday morning, at 10:30 am, in Saint Pius V Church, Eaton Street, Providence, to which relatives and friends are invited. Burial will be in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Providence. Visiting hours are respectfully omitted. In lieu of flowers donations to Young Eagles Experimental Aircraft Association, P.O. Box 3086 Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903 in his memory will be appreciated.