Thérèse Hawe Breza

She was the third daughter of Martin and Margaret Hawe born on July 11th, 1930 in Cresson, Pennsylvania. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from Seton Hill College in Greensboro, Pennsylvania.

Following graduation, Therese began working at DuPont where she met her husband, research chemist, Cyril James Breza. Obviously, they had “chemistry”. Married on August 8th, 1953, they moved to Thorofare, New Jersey to start a family of six children.

While raising her family, she became involved in the Civil Rights movement, working for the Urban League of Philadelphia where she fought for racial equality in housing.

After DuPont relocated the family to Hagerstown, Maryland in 1971, she became active in the Women’s Movement. Therese rose to the position of President of the Washington County League of Women’s Voters where she campaigned for home rule in government.

Upon her husband’s death in 1979, she moved to Annapolis, Maryland’s Historic District. Always wanting to be actively involved, she took a job as a congressional legislative assistant and sat on several state committees.

Her love of Annapolis inspired her volunteer work with the Charles Carroll House, Historic Annapolis and the William Paca House among many others. One of her pleasures was local theaters and arts, attending and supporting many productions over the years.

In addition to her community involvement, Therese was an avid world traveler visiting nearly every country in the world. As a lifelong learner, Therese sought out stimulating classes on all subjects and was an enthusiastic reader.

She was preceded in death by her husband Cyril James Breza and grandson Kyle Breza.

She is survived by her six children Mark (Barbara) Breza, Luke (Dian) Breza, Peter Breza, Beth (Greg) Martin, John Breza, and Amy (Eric) Plummer and her eight grandchildren Sean and Madeleine Breza, Amy and Roy Martin, Juliet and Skyler Breza and Allison and Kristen Plummer.

No immediate service will be held. There will be a celebration of life in July hosted by the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Maryland Hall for Creative Arts or The Light House Inc., an Annapolis homeless shelter.