Ronald James Brennan

Peabody - Ronald Brennan, 91, passed away peacefully at the Brooksby Retirement Village home that he shared with his wife, Evelyn, on Friday, September 27, 2024. Born on his mother’s birthday, Ronald (Ron) attended Lawrence High School and earned a BS and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Northeastern University. In addition to Evelyn, his wife of 69 years, he leaves three children and their spouses, Susan Brennan of Arlington, MA (Howard Burke), John Brennan of Gloucester, MA (Laura), and Tim Brennan of Rumney, NH (Cathy). Growing up during the Great Depression, Ron learned invaluable lessons he would carry with him throughout his life. On a large plot of land, unusual for Lawrence, MA, his earliest friends were the two dozen chickens his parents kept in the backyard. With good meat hard to find, even his favorite chicken Whitey would eventually end up on the kitchen table. Those lessons in frugality and practicality shaped his early life. From childhood, he honed an innate sense of timing to accomplish everything he wanted personally and professionally. With an engineer’s attention to detail, Ron meticulously planned out his days and years, making sure to get the most out of his time here on Earth. Ron met his future wife Evelyn (Evie) at a dance in Lawrence, MA, where both were born and raised. They first connected over their mutual love of music and dancing. An only child, Ron fell in love with Evie and her large, musical, fun-loving family. They married on June 26, 1954, starting their family in Kingston, NY. Ron began working for IBM early in his professional career, where he stayed to spend the remainder of his career. As part of a small think-tank group in Cambridge, he worked with the MIT Technology Lab team that invented block allocation for modern computer memory storage. Working as a mainframe programmer and, in later years, a software programmer, his team developed a large-scale airline reservation system. A lover of nature and the outdoors, Ron was an avid runner and former president of the Wolfpit Running Club in Ridgefield, CT, where he moved his family and widowed mother in 1965. He completed ten marathons throughout his running career, including running the Boston Marathon twice. Ron’s sense of adventure led to week-long family vacations in the wilderness. The entire family— Evie in front, Ron at the helm, and three kids with all their provisions stuffed in the middle of an 18-foot aluminum canoe—paddled through rapids on Maine’s Saco River. A later trip to the even more remote Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada meant chasing a bear away in the middle of the night. Closer to home, the family spent many winter vacations skiing in Stowe, VT, and Sunday River, ME. After his children graduated college, Ron and Evie traveled coast-to-coast across the United States in a camper van that would later become a home base for his newly discovered love of boating. He and Evie joined the Downeast Yacht Club in Boothbay Harbor, ME, where they spent some of the best summers of their lives cruising the Maine coast with friends and family. Ron enjoyed spending New England winters in sunny North Port, Florida, where he was active in the Harbor Isle choral group. He later directed a theater production of The Sound of Music, accompanied on the piano by Evie, a classically trained pianist. His family had a wonderful time visiting with them every winter, while Ron appreciated the opportunity to golf year-round. Moving from Ridgefield, CT, to his planned retirement home in Hampton, NH, Ron immersed himself in an intensive months-long course at Shelter Institute, Maine, where he learned the principles of building a passive energy home. After designing his ideal retirement home right down to the placement of the electrical outlets, he discovered the perfect plot of land in Hampton, NH, where he, Evie, and a hired carpenter friend built their retirement home from the foundation up. He and Evie lived in Hampton for 28 years as he relaxed in retirement mode, golfing regularly and hosting family Christmas parties. With his innate sense of timing, Ron realized when it was time to downsize, both moving from New Hampshire and selling his home in Florida in the same year. He and Evie entered Brooksby Retirement Village in 2019. Always eager for adventure, Ron and Evie enjoyed sailing on several international cruises with his family over the five years. Visiting hours will be held on Friday, October 4th from 10-11 AM at the Remick & Gendron Funeral Home - Crematory, 811 Lafayette Road, Hampton, NH, followed by a funeral and celebration of life at 11 AM. “In the hearts of those who loved you, you will always be there.”

Ronald James Brennan

April 18, 1933 - September 27, 2024