Beloved Warren Camp Riverbend Founder Dies, Missed By Many

WARREN, NJ — Warren's Camp Riverbend co-founder Marianne Breene, 93 died Wednesday night surrounded by her husband of 65 years Harold, children and grandchildren, the camp posted.

Breene worked at Camp Riverbend for all 55 years it has been in existence.

"Even this past season, she could be seen handing out drinks at lunch and ice cream at the end of the day. As generations of campers and staff know well, she was small but mighty and had an enormous personality and capacity for love. We will miss her as we carry on, in her spirit, the traditions that have made Camp Riverbend the special place that it is," Camp Riverbend posted on Facebook.

Commenters on the camp's Facebook page shared their sorrow and memories of Breene.

"She was not only the Matriarch of a feat family and of camp, but she was a second mom to many of us and a terrific boss. My girls still talk about the ice pops--years later. She is a love. The best of Mrs Breene is evident in her children, her grandchildren and the counselors and campers whose lives she nurtured and enhanced," said one commenter.

"When our family talks about the importance of finding joy in one's daily life, we always cite Mr. and Mrs. Breene as among the most joy-filled (and joy-spreading) we know. May Mrs. Breene Rest In Peace, and may your family find comfort in the knowledge that she touched countless lives," said another commenter.

"What a beautiful woman, in every way. Our thoughts are with your family. We are lucky to consider ourselves part of the Riverbend Family; that's what you have all created!" a commenter said.

"Such sad news. Marianne was one of a kind and I will always treasure the fun times we had as professionals and friends. Rest In Peace knowing that you left a wonderful legacy for children. My sincere condolences to Harold and all of the Breene family."

Full Obituary:

Marianne Breene, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, great aunt, great grandmother and a lot more, died peacefully this week surrounded by her husband of 65 years, Harold, her four children and their spouses, many grandchildren and great grandchildren. She died as she lived—kidding and joking with everyone and giving directions to all about both the immediate and distant future.

Marianne was an educator who positively influenced not just the lives of her own large and close family but also the lives of thousands of children over the past six decades.

Marianne’s life was long and eventful. She was born in September 1923 in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Her family was Jewish. One of her early childhood memories from Germany was the night known as “Kristallnacht” or “the night of broken glass,” a night of violence against Jews. She hated that name, Kristallnacht, because that was what the Nazis called it. She referred to it as the “Pogrom.”

Not long after that night, in August 1939, her parents put her on a train bound for the Netherlands and ultimately Great Britain as part of theKindertransport, a rescue effort aimed at getting Jewish children out of Nazi-dominated Europe. Her parents died in the Holocaust and she never saw them again.

After a year in an English orphanage, she arrived in New York City in 1940 at age 17. Her older sister Ursula had traveled to New York a year before. Marianne immediately got a job as an au pair for a family with two sons in the Bronx, the Chodrows. She worked for and lived with the Chodrows until she got married in 1952. During that time she raised the boys, learned English, graduated from high school and began college at Hunter. She always referred to the Chodrows as her adoptive family.

Marianne met her husband, Harold Breene, in Free Acres, at the time a self-contained community of artists and bohemians nestled in theWatchung Mountains within the town of Berkley Heights, New Jersey. Harold’s family lived there year-round and the Chodrows had a summer place there. Marrying in 1952, Marianne worked as a nursery school teacher and, over the next eight years, had four children.

As the family grew, Marianne and Harold pursued their dream of starting a children’s summer camp. In 1962 they bought a property in Warren, NJ that would become their family home and Breene’s Camp Riverbend, their business and their passion for the rest of their lives. Camp Riverbend continues to this day as a successful day camp and is now operated by Marianne’s children.

Along with running Camp Riverbend with Harold, volunteering at her children’s schools and Muhlenberg Hospital, raising her children, and becoming a locally renowned gourmet cook, Marianne found the time to finish her education, earning a B.A. in Early Childhood Education at Kean University in 1976. After obtaining her degree, Marianne went to work, first as a teacher and shortly thereafter as the Director of The Summit Cooperative Nursery School in Summit, NJ. She worked as the school’s Director for 30 years, acting as a beloved mentor to hundreds of young families in the Summit area as well as imbuing the teachers under her direction with her loving, caring teaching philosophy.

Never more than 5 feet tall--probably closer to 4 foot 8--Marianne was a giant in every non-physical sense. The profound impact she had on the lives of friends, students, campers, employees and colleagues will live on and remain a positive influence for many years to come.

She is survived, and will be sorely missed, by her family: husband Harold, son Roger and daughter-in-law Debbie and their children Adam (Tiffany) and Abby (Tommy Decurtis); daughter Jill and son-in-law Paul Cheng and their children Paul (Charies), Evan (Sarah) and Taylor; son Paul and daughter-in-law Miriam Peretsman and their children Sophia and Jack; and daughter Robin and son-in-law Walter Hetrick and their children Jenni (Robert Lawrence) and Sarah. Also, surviving are several great grandchildren and beloved nephew Jon Keller (Pam) and their son Liam.

In lieu of flowers, Marianne has requested that donations be made to the Hannah Peretsman Breene Foundation (596 Longview Rd., South Orange NJ 07079 or www.hannahperetsmanbreenefoundation.org)

(Images via Camp Riverbend)

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