Royce Lionel ( Lynn ) Breaw passed away at the age of 87 on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at his home in Kerrville, Texas. Born on November 7, 1924 in Cavalier, North Dakota, Lynn was the middle child and only son of Owen and Emma (Zinn) Breaw.
Lynn spent the first ten years of his life in North Dakota (1924-34), and then the next nine years in Nebraska (1934-43) with a short period in Washington. While in North Dakota, Lynn had a near-fatal bout with pneumonia that resulted in a heart murmur that would trouble him for years. Lynn spent the formative years of his youth growing up in Nebraska. During this period Lynn also spent a few months in Washington working a retail job in a department store (1942-43), but returned to Nebraska in early 1943 to resume high school.
In 1943, Lynn left high school in Nebraska early and joined the U.S.. Despite his heart murmur, Lynn passed his physical and went on to serve as a Radioman during WWII in the Atlantic theater from 1944-46 aboard the U.S.S. Devon.
After being discharged from the Navy in 1946, Lynn returned to Nebraska, went to school and worked several jobs until 1949. Lynn attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in 1946-47, first earning his high school diploma and then studying speech, broadcasting, and journalism. Lynn also worked several jobs as a warehouseman and school bus driver (1946-48); Survey/Engineering Aide for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (1948-49); and reporter for the Denver Post based in Trenton, Nebraska (1949). In his spare time, Lynn was also a basketball referee.
In 1950, Lynn was recalled by the Navy and served in Japan during the Korean War. He completed his military service in early 1952, at which time he was already in process to start his career at the CIA.
In 1953, Lynn entered the CIA, serving in assignments related to some of the most historically significant periods in U.S. history including the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Lynn served seven overseas tours and traveled worldwide, mostly in Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Lynn retired from the CIA in 1981 after over 35 years of distinguished government and military service.
After retiring, Lynn moved to Austin Texas in 1981, and then to his beloved Kerrville in 1993. He remained active in his retirement, among his enjoyments were following the tournament circuit of the University of Florida Lady Gators Golf Team, and driving throughout the United States to visit family and friends. While traveling, Lynn was rarely without at least one cooler of Dr. Pepper in the trunk of his trusty 1984 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight! At home in Texas, Lynn loved to spend time with his neighbors and friends, watch re-runs of M.A.S.H., go to the library, and read his Western novels and watch the sun set from his front porch.
Lynn was athletic and active his entire life: in his youth, he played basketball and football; in the Navy, he was a boxer; and into middle age he played golf and enjoyed swimming.
Lynn is survived by his son Richard Breaw (Debbie) of Florida, his daughter Barbara Higdon (Richard) of Iowa, and his two sisters, Leta Grace Illingworth of Nebraska and LuVerne Shaw (Jim) of Washington. Lynn also is survived by six grandsons, one granddaughter, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins throughout the United States and Canada. Most of the Zinn cousins live in Texas and Oklahoma, while the Breaw (also spelled Breau, Breault) cousins are scattered throughout the United States and Canada (Moncton, New Brunswick Province). Among his friends, Lynn is also remembered by his wonderful neighbors Denny (who was also his barber) and Jenny Pierce of Kerrville, Texas, and his home health-care aide, Mamie Keith, who cared for him in his last year. All of us love and miss him.
Lynn was a devoted patron of the local library in Kerrville, and the family asks that donations in his memory be sent to the: Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library, 505 Water St., Kerrville, Texas, 78028, www.bhmlibrary.org.
