Norman E. Brennan

Norman E. Brennan, Sr. “Rusty”, 81, of Wilmington formerly of Charlestown, suddenly, April 23rd, from complications of heart and lung disease.

Born in Charlestown, MA, on September 11, 1925, he was the son of the late Joseph O. & Christine (Dineen) Brennan. He was raised in Charlestown, attended Boston Public Schools, and graduated from Charlestown High School. Norman was married for 53 years to the late Rita A. (Aylward), who passed in 2004. Mr. Brennan was an employee of the M.B.T.A. for 35 years retiring in 1981, he drove buses for 25 years, was a truck driver, and for the last 10 years of his employment he was in the Maintenance Department of the “T”. Following his retirement, Mr. Brennan moved to Tewksbury in 1982 and then to Wilmington in 1989 where he has resided for the last 18 years.

Mr. Brennan was a navy Veteran of World War II as were all three of his brothers, Joseph, Alton, and Robert along with their father Joseph Owen Brennan. Mr. Brennan joined the Navy in 1943 and was assigned to the Destroyer U.S.S. Hall (DD 583). He was a 19 year old Seaman on the deck of the U.S.S. Hall, several hundred yards off the beach of Iwo Jima, as the U.S.S. Hall was assigned to provide close-in fire support for the Marines while they scaled Mount Surabaci. Mr. Brennan wrote in his war diary dated February 24th, 1945, “We have just raised Old Glory on top of the Mountain on Iwo Jima, our planes and ships are bombing the enemy lines, we have half the Island”. The U.S.S. Hall also took part in the invasion of Okinawa where the ship was attacked on three separate occasions by Japanese Kamikazes, all three times they were shot down before crashing the ship.

In his spare time, Norman was an avid hunter, fisherman, and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, mostly going to their sporting events. Mr. Brennan was a member of the Irish American Club in Malden, the Old Charlestown School Boy Association, Knights of Columbus Member, and a former volunteer at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club.

Mr. Brennan is survived by his four sons: Norman E., Jr. (MBTA) & his wife Ruthanne of Charlestown, Stephen P. of Wilmington, Richard M & his wife Susan of Melrose, Timothy J. (MBTA) & his wife Debbie of Tewksbury, his two daughters: Susan M. Bongiorno & her husband Peter of Tewksbury, and Virginia A. “Ginger” Godding-Hill & her husband Don of Wilmington, loving brother of Robert G. & his wife Dottie of Pembroke, his twin sister Norma Colanton of Orlando, FL, Joan Seibolt of West Yarmouth, and the late Joseph O., Jr. (Ret. Boston Fire Dept.) and Alton T. “Austy” (Supt. Of Bridges, City of Boston), brother-in-law of Peg Brennan of Pembroke, and the late Marie Brennan of Charlestown, also survived by 21 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Funeral from the Nichols Funeral Home, Inc., 187 Middlesex Ave., (Rte. 62), Wilmington on Saturday, April 28, at 10:30 a.m. followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Dorothy's Church, Main St., Wilmington, at 11:30 a.m. Interment Wildwood Cemetery, Wilmington. Visiting hours on Friday from 4-9 p.m.

Memorial donation's in Norman's name may be made to the American Heart Association, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA, 01701.

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