Bernard Patrick "Ben" Breen

Ben passed away September 16, 2024, in Pittsburgh. He was preceded in death by his wife Hjordis Sissel Anne Bramham. He was a complete man. A scientist/engineer, inventor, husband, father, adventurer, Civil Rights activist, philanthropist, and lifelong curious learner.
He was born June 11th, 1937, and raised in Mineola, NY, on Long Island. When he graduated high school he moved to Dayton, Ohio to attend The University of Dayton where he received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, met his first wife Carol (Peters) Breen, and had his first child Mary Ann. He exceled in his studies and was awarded the most outstanding Chemical Engineering student. Then on to The University of Illinois where he got an MS in Chemical Engineering and had his son Mike. Next stop was Ames, Iowa, and Iowa State University for his PhD in Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. There he had another son Patrick and daughter Betsy. Finished with his schooling, a job moved the family to Southern California and he had his son Kenny.
He worked for an engineering firm and the family spent the summers on Catalina Island. Diving, fishing, and sailing. The family would camp at Little Fisherman's Cove and Ben would sail over on the weekends teaching the kids to fish, dive and sail.
In 1969 he started his own company and moved the family to Laguna Beach. The company KVB " The Technecology People" worked in combustion of fossil fuels for electrical generation. He is credited with reducing nitric oxide emissions by two-thirds in the Southern California air basin. He authored and co-authored more than twenty patents and over two hundred articles on combustion monitoring and instrumentation, fuel use, and energy science.
In 1976 he sold KVB and spent much of his time in Snowmass Village, Colorado at his condo skiing, hiking, running, backpacking, and entertaining his friends and family. After five years of "retirement" he started a new company, Energy Systems Associates, in Pittsburgh, Pa.
In 1990 he and Carol divorced and he moved to Pittsburgh fulltime, when he wasn't in Colorado, there he made many friends he still has today. They enjoyed many skiing and biking trips.
In 2010 he met Sissel and shortly thereafter they were married. They spent time skiing in Colorado, traveling the world, and just enjoying their home in Murrysville, Pa. They truly loved one another and are together again in heaven.
Ben is survived by four of his children and four grandchildren. He did not want any fuss when he passed, he just wanted people to keep learning, be kind and please vote. His ashes will be spread with Sissel's and on his beloved Snowmass Mountain.
A Memorial Service for Ben will be held at 11:00 am on October 16, 2024 at Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church, 4600 Old William Penn Hwy, Murrysville, PA 15668.
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