BREEN, Hal Joseph (Mike)

Hal Joseph "Mike" Breen, M.D., 86, founding member and past president of the Arizona Psychiatric Society, died, Dec. 27, 2005, in Phoenix. Dr. Breen practiced child and adult psychiatry in Phoenix for over 45 years, continuously working until his hospitalization in October 2005. Besides being a founder of the Arizona Psychiatric Society, he also served as its president in 1965-66 and sat on its executive council for 16 years. A Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, he also authored several peer-reviewed articles, and was a published poet. Dr. Breen grew up in Atlanta and enlisted in the Georgia Governor's Horse Guard (National Guard) in 1934 when he was 15. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1940, and later graduated from Army mule skinner's school-a distinction he took great pride in. He was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant of horse cavalry, which was later converted to armored Cavalry. Dr. Breen was tank commander in the 14th Cavalry in the Battle of the Bulge during WW II, and was one of the first soldiers to cross the Rhine over the Remagen Bridge. He attended Tulane University in New Orleans on the GI Bill, completing his undergraduate work in two years. Dr. Breen graduated from Tulane Medical School in 1951, and finished specialty training in psychiatry in Massachusetts and New York. In 1950, he married Eleanor Prud'homme, of Pineland, Texas. In 1959, they moved from New York to Phoenix. A life-long Catholic, Dr. Breen was a member of St. Theresa's Parish. He was preceded in death by his wife of 49 years, Eleanor Prud'homme Breen. He is survived by four children, Terry (Anna), Susan (Walter Mares), Peter (Tami Schneider), and Janet (Livingston Sutro); his sisters, Ramona Dodge and Patricia Gordon, his brother Larry, and three grandchildren: Eleanor "Nelly" Sutro, Emma Sutro, and Laura Breen. Funeral Mass Wed. Jan. 4, 2006, at St. Theresa's Church, 5045 E. Thomas, Phoenix. Internment, with full military honors, was held at the Veteran's Memorial Cemetery at 23029 N. Cave creek Rd., Phoenix. Published in The Arizona Republic on 1/1/2006.