Constance Focke Breen

BREEN, Constance Focke "Connie", age 85, of Kettering died Friday, August 2, 2013. She was born June 26, 1928 in Dayton, OH to Elmer and Marie (Berno) Focke. Elmer was the Treasurer of the well-known meat packing firm "William Focke and Sons" which operated in Dayton from 1874 to 1972. Marie was a popular Broadway Opera singer and dancer in the 1920's. Connie was the oldest of six children, five girls and one boy. She graduated from Oakwood High School in 1946 and attended Georgetown Visitation in Washington, D.C. On November 10, 1956, she married Edward Grimes Breen, former mayor of Dayton, OH, United States Congressman from 1948 to 1952, and County Commissioner from 1956 to 1960. She was a life long member of the Dayton Junior League, the Dayton Democratic Woman's League, the Dayton Country Club and St. Albert's Catholic Church. Connie was one of the founders of Crches International at the University of Dayton. She loved to ski and ride horses. The love of her life beside her husband was her childhood horse Lady Mac with whom she spent many happy years riding in the Hills and Dales area of Kettering. For many years she sold dresses in the Moraine Room at Rikes Department store. She was a summer resident of Mt. Desert Island, Maine since 1956 and loved to sail on Long Pond and around the coast. Connie had many friends on the island and during the sixties there was always a hoot 'n' nany going on at the Breen's cottage Crazywind. She was preceded in death by her husband Ed, her parents, her sisters Mary Cochrane, Gretchen Focke and Helen Brown. Connie is survived by her two sons, Ed (Cathy) Breen and Robert Breen; one daughter, Cindy Breen; grandchildren, James E., Robert C., Isabelle and Beckman Breen; and Curtis Conatser; and sister, Ann Stemple. Memorial Catholic Services will be held at 10:00am on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at Calvary Cemetery, 1625 Calvary Ave., Dayton. Donations can be made in memory of Connie to Stivers School for the Arts, 1313 E. 5th St. Dayton, OH 45402 or Crches International Marinus Library.

Funeral Home:
Kettering Routsong Funeral Home
2100 E. Stroop Rd.
Kettering, OH
US 45429

Visitation:
2100 E. Stroop Rd.
Kettering, OH
America 45429
Saturday, August 3, 2013
No Visitation