Brian John Breen

After a brief hospitalization Brian John Breen passed away at JFK Hospital in Edison surrounded by his closest and dearest friends, many of whom were family to him. Although the hospitalization was brief, his fight was not. But he was a boxer as a young man and gave as good as he got. 

He was preceded in death by his one true love and guardian angel Donna Brock as well as his mother Geraldine and father William Breen. He is survived by his sister Robbin Breen; Donna Brock’s children: Maria Masters and Gil Brock and their families; and his nearest and dearest friends in Edison, Metuchen, Westfield and beyond.  

Brian was raised in Iselin, New Jersey, lived in Cranford and moved to Edison in his later years. For many, many years he owned and operated Brian’s Landscaping, where his motto was “We Do the Right Thing.” And that he did.  Brian valued his craft and his customers over personal gain and many of his longtime clients became his good friends.  He worked harder than most and better than more – giving each job his full attention. He committed to nothing less than excellence.

As an amateur boxer, he trained and fought in some of the more fabled gyms in New York and California. A little man with a very big punch, he came by his splayed nose honestly, willing to take two and three punches just to land one – which was often enough. His power caught the eye of a number of big-league trainers and he was groomed for a pro career. His battle outside the ring with alcohol, however, took its toll and that fight wound up being his greatest victory – the benefits of which live on in the sobriety of untold others and their families. 

Devoted to recovery for himself and others, he was (bluntly) pivotal in the sobriety of countless members of AA, both new and old. He favored an introduction to meetings that said: “Honesty without kindness is not honesty at all,” which no one ever understood –  but did their best to adhere to. Always mindful of those who were still suffering from the ravages of alcoholism, he was instrumental in the founding of a number of new and explicitly inclusive meetings and a pioneer in bringing Agnostic AA to New Jersey. The list of people he helped at crucial times and even saved (this writer included) is too long to include. Thoroughly irreplaceable, he will be sorely missed. The world will be quieter without him, but it will not be better – nor nearly as amusing. 

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