Thomas A. Brennan Jr.

1938 - 2016

Brennan, Thomas A., Jr.

Thomas A. Brennan, Jr., passed away on August 24, 2016 in Greenwich, CT surrounded by family after a brief illness. He was 78 years old and resided in Stamford, CT and, formerly, Eastchester, NY. He was born on February 11, 1938 in Washington, D.C., the second of three children of the late Thomas A. and Carolyn F. (nee Doran) Brennan. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Eastchester, NY where he graduated from Immaculate Conception School in Tuckahoe in 1952. He then graduated from Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx in 1956. While at Fordham Prep, he was a standout fullback on the varsity football team for four years and a member of the 1954 undefeated and untied team. He also swam for the Prep. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA (A.B. History 1960) and from Fordham University School of Law in New York, NY (J.D. 1963). During college and law school, he served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1963. He was a member of the bar of the State of New York and was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts and the United States Tax Court. For many summers in the late 1940s and through the 1950s, he attended Camp Acadia in Livingston Manor, NY as a camper and later as a counselor, and wrote the definitive history of Our Lady of Lourdes Camp and Camp Acadia. While a young camper, he met Elizabeth Anne Rogan, a camper at Our Lady of Lourdes Camp. They were married at the Church of St. Philip Neri, Bronx, NY on November 17, 1962 and moved to Eastchester in 1965. After law school, he worked as an attorney for Keating & Ricca, then Whalen & O'Neill, both in New York, NY and then joined his father, Thomas A. Brennan, Sr., as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel of The Hearst Corporation, New York, NY in 1967. From 1996 until his retirement in 2006, he was the Director of The Hearst Family Trust in New York, NY. He also served as Counsel to the Westchester County Public Employment Relations Board from 1968 to 2006 and a was a member of the Advisory Board of Instructional Television of the Archdiocese of New York from 1975 through 1981. He was a Knight of Malta; Trustee, Fordham Preparatory School (1974-1976); President, Fordham Prep Alumni Association (1974-1982); President, New York Guild of Catholic Lawyers (1977); Trustee, Immaculate Conception Church, Tuckahoe (1976-1980); Governor (1988-1993) and life member, New York Athletic Club; and life members of the American Irish Historical Society, New York, NY and the Kilkenny Archeological Society, Kilkenny, Ireland. In 1975, he was elected to membership in the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in the City of New York, was elected to life membership in 1985, and rose through the ranks, beginning as a Steward in 1977, until he was elected the 72nd President of the Society in 1992. He authored many genealogical papers about his family and his wife's family, including Born Under the Bell, a history of the involvement of his mother-in-law's family, the Cashmans, in the formation of the New York City Fire Department. He also wrote A History of the Brennans of Idough, County Kilkenny that was published in 1979. In 1990, he was created Chief of the Brennan Clan, under the honorific Taoiseach Oda, at the first Brennan Clan Reunion in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1990. In 1994, he became a citizen of the Republic of Ireland. He is the beloved husband of Elizabeth and loving father of Eileen (John Conlon), Elizabeth (Robert Knudsen), Sheila (Nicholas Ballone) and Thomas (Allison Dunn). Adoring grandfather of Elizabeth, Delia, Eleanor, Anna, John and Caroline Conlon; Nicholas, Kyle, Bailey and Daniel Ballone; and Maeve, Fiona and Thomas Brennan. Dear brother of Ann B. McRitchie. He is also survived by many in-laws, and many, many nieces, nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents, Thomas and Carolyn Brennan, his sister, Carol M. Burke, and his grandson, Andrew Ballone. Calling hours at Fred H. McGrath & Son Funeral Home, Bronxville on Friday, August 26 between the hours of 2-4pm and 6-9pm. Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, August 27 at 9:30am at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Tuckahoe. Interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne.