Carl
Carl Hannibal Brennan,
d. August 10, 2015
Dr. Carl H. Brennan, 91, died Monday, August 10, at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth, Maine.
Born in 1924 in Bangor, Maine, to Carl H. Brennan, Sr. and Mary McEwen Brennan, he attended Parochial schools in Bangor and was graduated from the University of Maine. During the Second World War, he served in the United States Army Air Corps, China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater, as navigator in a B-24 Squadron. Near the end of the war, Carl\'s squadron was stationed at the old Travis Air Field in Savannah. At one point near Christmas during this time, he was seated on a military plane that was scheduled to depart Travis for the Northeast to allow servicemen from New England to get home for the Holidays. At the last minute, Carl was bumped from the flight by the arrival of a senior officer. A friend from his unit, noting Carl\'s disappointment, invited him to go along to a Christmas party in Savannah that had been announced on a church bulletin board. At that party Carl met Savannah native Mary Ellen Prendergast, who became the love of his life and his faithful wife of 59 years before predeceasing him in 2011.
Following the war, he received his M.D. degree from Cornell University Medical School in New York City and then completed a Residency in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He then returned to Savannah and practiced Pediatrics for 35 years as a founding partner of Pediatric Associates. He was also a past Chief of Staff at St. Joseph\'s Hospital. After retiring from his Pediatric practice, Dr. Brennan began a 17-year second career as Clinical Ethicist at St. Joseph\'s. He was a member of many community and professional organizations, including The Hibernian Society of Savannah; Rotary Club of Savannah; the American Medical Association; the Medical Association of Georgia; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics; the Catholic Medical Association; and Guild of St. Luke, Archdiocese of Boston. Additionally, in 1993, he was elected as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
To say Dr. Brennan was a generous volunteer with his time would be an understatement, as the wall in his study is literally covered with plaques of gratitude from all manner of PTAs, Scout Troops, Churches, Hospitals, Civic Groups, and the old St. Mary\'s orphanage. He is a past recipient of the Medical Association of Georgia\'s Wyeth-Ayerst Physician Award for Community Service. He had a great fondness for travel and particularly for Oxford University in England, where in later life he enrolled in at least one summer course for nearly 20 years in a row. Dr. Brennan lived in Savannah for 58 years until declining health in 2014 made it necessary for him to return to his home state of Maine to stay with his son and daughter-in-law. He was a man of great unwavering religious faith as long as he lived, and he loved life immensely. Indeed, had he known Dylan Thomas, he might well have been that poet\'s inspiration for the lines 'Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'
In addition to his wife, Dr. Brennan was predeceased by a sister, Dorothea, and two brothers, Robert and Frederick.
He is survived by son Thomas (Vicki), son Mark, and beloved granddaughter, Elizabeth. He is also survived by seven nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Dr. Brennan Saturday, August 29, 11:00 am at St. Joseph\'s Catholic Church, 231 Main Street, Ellsworth, Maine. Inurnment will follow the Mass in the Catholic section of Woodbine Cemetery in Ellsworth.
In lieu of flowers, Dr. Brennan hoped friends might consider a remembrance either to St. James School Scholarship Fund, 8412 Whitefield Avenue, Savannah, GA 31406, or to The Foundation at St. Joseph\'s/Candler Health System, 5353 Reynolds Street, Savannah, GA 31405.
Correspondence: Tom Brennan, P. O. Box 595, Ellsworth, Maine 04605.
Born in 1924 in Bangor, Maine, to Carl H. Brennan, Sr. and Mary McEwen Brennan, he attended Parochial schools in Bangor and was graduated from the University of Maine. During the Second World War, he served in the United States Army Air Corps, China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater, as navigator in a B-24 Squadron. Near the end of the war, Carl\'s squadron was stationed at the old Travis Air Field in Savannah. At one point near Christmas during this time, he was seated on a military plane that was scheduled to depart Travis for the Northeast to allow servicemen from New England to get home for the Holidays. At the last minute, Carl was bumped from the flight by the arrival of a senior officer. A friend from his unit, noting Carl\'s disappointment, invited him to go along to a Christmas party in Savannah that had been announced on a church bulletin board. At that party Carl met Savannah native Mary Ellen Prendergast, who became the love of his life and his faithful wife of 59 years before predeceasing him in 2011.
Following the war, he received his M.D. degree from Cornell University Medical School in New York City and then completed a Residency in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He then returned to Savannah and practiced Pediatrics for 35 years as a founding partner of Pediatric Associates. He was also a past Chief of Staff at St. Joseph\'s Hospital. After retiring from his Pediatric practice, Dr. Brennan began a 17-year second career as Clinical Ethicist at St. Joseph\'s. He was a member of many community and professional organizations, including The Hibernian Society of Savannah; Rotary Club of Savannah; the American Medical Association; the Medical Association of Georgia; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics; the Catholic Medical Association; and Guild of St. Luke, Archdiocese of Boston. Additionally, in 1993, he was elected as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
To say Dr. Brennan was a generous volunteer with his time would be an understatement, as the wall in his study is literally covered with plaques of gratitude from all manner of PTAs, Scout Troops, Churches, Hospitals, Civic Groups, and the old St. Mary\'s orphanage. He is a past recipient of the Medical Association of Georgia\'s Wyeth-Ayerst Physician Award for Community Service. He had a great fondness for travel and particularly for Oxford University in England, where in later life he enrolled in at least one summer course for nearly 20 years in a row. Dr. Brennan lived in Savannah for 58 years until declining health in 2014 made it necessary for him to return to his home state of Maine to stay with his son and daughter-in-law. He was a man of great unwavering religious faith as long as he lived, and he loved life immensely. Indeed, had he known Dylan Thomas, he might well have been that poet\'s inspiration for the lines 'Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'
In addition to his wife, Dr. Brennan was predeceased by a sister, Dorothea, and two brothers, Robert and Frederick.
He is survived by son Thomas (Vicki), son Mark, and beloved granddaughter, Elizabeth. He is also survived by seven nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Dr. Brennan Saturday, August 29, 11:00 am at St. Joseph\'s Catholic Church, 231 Main Street, Ellsworth, Maine. Inurnment will follow the Mass in the Catholic section of Woodbine Cemetery in Ellsworth.
In lieu of flowers, Dr. Brennan hoped friends might consider a remembrance either to St. James School Scholarship Fund, 8412 Whitefield Avenue, Savannah, GA 31406, or to The Foundation at St. Joseph\'s/Candler Health System, 5353 Reynolds Street, Savannah, GA 31405.
Correspondence: Tom Brennan, P. O. Box 595, Ellsworth, Maine 04605.
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