Honouring Irene Frances Breen: A family’s legacy of hope and change
The creation of the endowed Irene Frances Breen Chair in Hemorrhagic Stroke stands as a deeply meaningful tribute to a woman whose life was defined by love, resilience and dedication to her family.
A mother of three and grandmother to eight, Irene passed away in April 2025 from the lasting effects of a hemorrhagic stroke. After her loss, the multitude of people who reached out to her family to express their condolences – and even who wanted to take part in this article – speak of a woman who loved her family through distinctively hard work, creativity and laughter.
“Every time she walked into a room, she just lit it up,” says her granddaughter, Helen Breen. “She was such a positive soul. She had the happiest, most uniquely warm energy that you can possibly think of.”
Irene suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in 2020, a serious medical event that occurs when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and causes bleeding in the surrounding tissue, increasing pressure inside the brain and disrupting normal oxygen flow. As hemorrhagic strokes are less common than ischemic strokes (a stroke caused by blocked blood vessels), research funding has been limited for this particularly devastating condition, leading to fewer treatment options.
Irene’s condition was severe. Soon after it happened, she and her husband of more than 61 years, William Breen, received the news that Irene would continue to experience memory loss and cognitive decline over the next several years. The family was devastated.
In the long difficult days and sleepless nights that followed, William and Irene committed to two things that would remain their north star: the first, that this diagnosis would not get in the way of their commitment to their family and friends, and the second, that they would find a way to change the course of this illness for future families who may be faced with the tragic effects of hemorrhagic stroke.
Irene passed away in April 2025. Together with their children, Bob, Ed and Kathy, William is honouring Irene’s commitment to supporting an area of medicine where progress is urgently needed. By establishing the endowed Irene Frances Breen Chair in Hemorrhagic Stroke at the University of Toronto, they will forever empower leading experts to accelerate breakthroughs, train future clinicians and improve care for patients across Canada and beyond.
“This gift is from both of us. Irene always put everyone before herself. She spent her whole life looking after other people — our family, our friends, anyone who needed her. And when her own time came, the necessary help was not there for her,” says William. “That’s why this gift matters so much to me. It’s a way to help make it possible for others to get the help and support that will give them hope to live a more normal life moving forward.”
A legacy of dedication to family and community
Born in Toronto in 1941, Irene spent her early years within the vibrant Slovak enclave surrounding Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church. Raised by her parents, Andrew and Mary Hrinco, alongside her siblings Rose, Bernice, Jerry and Tom, Irene’s childhood was grounded in faith, cultural tradition and the close interdependence of immigrant families striving to build new lives.
“She was always upbeat, always laughing, always game to go to the next polka dance when we were young,” says Rita Meier, who had emigrated to the area from England and Ireland with her family in 1948. Moving next to the church, Rita and her family were quickly adopted by the community and made close schoolmates and friends with the Hrinco siblings.
“You always felt good about yourself when you were with Irene,” she continues.
As a teenager, Irene’s love for music and community blossomed. She and her friends became mainstays at the community dance held every Saturday night at the parish hall, with Irene often pulling friends onto the floor for a favourite song. Sometimes, Irene would even convince friends to sneak into a wedding reception — not to eat the food or to take advantage of the couple’s hospitality, but just to dance.
(The trick, she would proudly tell her family decades later, was to always tell guests of the groom that you were a distant relative of the bride, and to tell guests of the bride you were a distant relative of the groom.)
Her confidence and love of life was infectious, says Emily Weller, another lifelong friend from the church community. Emily’s parents had known the Hrincos since before either were born, with the two becoming like sisters.
One time on a bus ride to Florida together in the 50’s, Emily recalls, Irene would waste no time making friends at each stop on the 48-hour trip, often convincing the local boys to buy them a pop or snack. As adults, the two couples — Emily and her husband Paul, and Irene and William — remained friends, often travelling together and supporting each other in raising families of their own.
Irene first met William, or Ross as Irene, family and friends call him, at the Princess Gates of the Canadian National Exhibition while William was working as a police cadet on duty assigned to the fair.
Building a life in 1960s and ‘70s Toronto meant hard work. The two spent the early years of their marriage buying (and moving into) older homes in need of TLC and fixing them up to sell. In an era of rising interest rates and growing inflation, William and Irene were wary of holding debt and so saved for every move and every purchase on their own. At times when bills started to mount, the pair focused on protecting their young family from the stress, getting creative at dinner time to make the fourth-night-in-a-row of hamburgers feel new and fun.
After years of hard work and frequent moves, William and Irene finally purchased what would become their forever home on the shores of Lake Ontario. While it needed some work, and the pair didn’t have enough furniture to fill the space, Irene described it as her paradise. Their shared pride in what they built was immeasurable. Every choice was made with the goal of creating a prosperous life for their young family, where the only limits to the opportunity available to them was their own creativity.
“They were a team. All of the important decisions were about family,” explains Bob.
Throughout the good times and hard, Irene remained devoted to her family, staying close to her sisters and parents while teaching her children the importance of connection and community. She chatted with her sisters daily, often slipping into Slovak in quick, lively bursts that the children couldn’t understand. The family laughed at the nicknames shared between them: Aunt Bernie, the “young raven,” and Irene, lovingly called the “old crow.”
She cared deeply for her own mother too. Every week, Irene would pick Kathy up from school and take her to have lunch with her mom (Kathy’s grandmother). And when Kathy eventually had children of her own, she found herself frequently turning to her mom as a friend and confidante, sharing coffee, errands and laughter.
“She loved little adventures,” Kathy says, remembering one time on a Disney cruise when the two of them hid from the rest of the family and split a plate of nachos, chatting for hours.
Irene wasn’t materialistic, Kathy adds. Never cheap, she was simply uninterested in unnecessary things. She would save her airmiles points to treat her family to feasts at Boston Pizza and cherished her little red Skyhawk car — proudly holding the door closed when it didn’t quite latch, insisting she didn’t need anything fancier.
The Sts. Cyril and Methodius community remained her anchor. Irene attended church regularly, as well as annual pilgrimages to local and distant cathedrals. Every year she and William went to the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland with their family, then would share a picnic lunch with the community, chatting for hours in lawn chairs by the cars.
“One of my most cherished memories with my mom is my First Communion,” Ed says. “I remember wearing my white suit and feeling so proud. My mom guided me through every step, gently helping me understand the true meaning of why I was receiving my First Communion and the importance of my faith.”
In addition to being a loving mother, grandmother and devoted wife, Irene was also a highly capable, self-taught financial mind, says Paula Kotarba, an investment advisor and, later, friend of Irene.
“She was widely read. She kept up with the financial news,” Paula says. “She was smart and savvy, and despite occasional market turmoil, Irene was able to maintain a long-term investment perspective.”
Building a better future for their community
As her children grew and eventually had children of their own, Irene extended the importance of family and community to the next generation. She bought colourful cereal bowls just for them — pink, blue and green — and stocked little boxes of every cereal so each child could have their favourite. Family members smile at memories of Irene’s delight in putting out the goodies (cookies and chocolates included) for the visiting kids, even as the young parents fretted about ruining their appetite for dinner. In the car, she listened to their new favourite bands and musical interests, eventually declaring that she loved all of it.
The last five years of Irene’s life were marked by the consequences of a hemorrhagic stroke, including seizures, memory loss and cognitive decline. Yet her appreciation for the life she had built with William remained. Even as words grew scarce, Irene would look out at the familiar view of Lake Ontario from their home and remark, “It’s beautiful.”
The Irene Frances Breen Chair in Hemorrhagic Stroke reflects Irene’s conviction, taught at her kitchen table and lived in countless small acts, that hope is practical, communal and persevering. As Bob shares, it reflects Irene’s steadfast dedication to making life better for her community.
“It’s another way of her helping people even after she’s not here,” he says. “And as my mom saw it, if it helps one person, then it was a great thing to do.”
“My wife was my best friend, my partner — the love of my life for almost 65 years,” adds William. “She completed me which enabled us to achieve so much together.”
The Breen Family prays that the Irene Frances Breen Foundation will transform the future for those affected by intracranial hemorrhage, offering hope, advancing healing and lighting the path toward recovery.
