John J. "Jack" Breen

John J. “Jack” Breen, 82, of Sioux City, passed away Wednesday, September 29, 2021 after a short battle with lung cancer. A private funeral Mass will be held. Visitation will be 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Thursday, September 30, 2021 at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery. 

Jack was born July 10, 1939 to John J. and Georgianna (Beauregard) in South Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. He was baptized July 30, 1939 at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in South Boston. He graduated from St. Margaret's Parochial School in 1953, Boston Latin School in 1957 and then attended Johns Hopkins Univ. for one year. He graduated from Boston College in 1962, B.S. Physics.

He worked for RCA and ran the computers on a spy ship. He worked in the aerospace industry while employed at Radiation Inc. of Palm Bay, Florida. He moved to Kansas City, MO. In 1966 to work for Midwest Research Institute. There he met Janet Wegman and they were married at St. Martin's Church in Seguin, Kansas on June 14, 1969. While in Kansas City he worked for Thompson Hayward Chem. Co. for 4 years, while obtaining his MBA from UMKC. They moved to Columbia, Mo. In 1977 where he worked for McGraw Edison and then moved to Sioux City, employed by Terra Chemical Co. for 17 years. While being employed for WIT and ConAgra of Omaha, he obtained his PhD in Math Education. He retired from WIT in 2009 after 11 years, having been Chairman of the Computer Science Department.

Jack enjoyed bowling, golfing, hockey, history, science fiction and classical music. He returned to playing duplicate bridge, attending many tournaments and attained the status of Silver Life Master. He was a tremendous athlete playing football, basketball, baseball, swimming and running track. He spent many years in the Boy Scouts. His favorite memory is playing baseball in Fenway Park.

Jack was a member of Nativity Parish since 1980 where he served as a Eucharistic Minister and usher.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to Mater Dei Parish, 1212 Morningside Ave, Sioux City, Iowa 51106.

Jack is survived by his loving wife, Janet; daughters, Christine Breen of Brandon, South Dakota, Diane (Kurt) Christoph, Ankeny, Iowa, Kathleen (J.P.) Curran of Cumming, Iowa, and Michelle (Eric) Smith Phoenix, Arizona; grandchildren, Rachael Breen; Geneva, Henry, and Violet Christoph; Anna, Bridget, Elizabeth, Conor, and Peter Curran and Gregory Smith.