BRADFORD: Dennis G. Bretton, 70, died Saturday, December 6, 2014 in the Fairhaven Healthcare Center in Lowell following an extended battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was the husband of the late Barbara Ann (Zarbolias) Bretton who died in March 2013. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends and all those whose lives he touched.
Born in Derry, New Hampshire on January 28, 1944, he was the son of the late Alcide and Alberta Bretton. A lifelong resident of Bradford, Dennis was a graduate of Haverhill Trade School and Lowell Technical Institute.
Dennis was employed as an engineer at Raytheon for over thirty years before retiring in 2009. Concurrent to his engineering career, Dennis worked as a Realtor in the Merrimack Valley. He worked for numerous agencies, eventually owning and operating Brettonwood Real Estate in Bradford for numerous years.
In his youth Dennis was an avid softball player, playing in many leagues throughout the Merrimack Valley. Dennis was the quintessential family man; he loved spending time with his wife, Barbara, visiting the beach and vacationing with his family. Dennis always found time to take his sons fishing. Later in life, he especially loved spending time with his grandchildren. Dennis was a communicant of Sacred Hearts Parish in Bradford.
He is survived by his three children and their spouses, Dennis Bretton II and his wife, Vanessa of Bradford, Debra (Tilden) Gorham and her husband, David of Bradford and Michael Tilden and his wife, Susan of Groveland; six grandchildren, Jacqueline and Matthew Gorham, Mikayla and Cole Tilden and Arianna and Jonathan Bretton; two brothers, Gerald and Steven Bretton; a sister, Carol Raymond, and many nieces and nephews.
His funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday in Sacred Hearts Church, 165 South Main St., Bradford at 10 a.m. Visiting hours will be held on Wednesday in the Linnehan-Grondin Funeral Home, 129 Kenoza Ave., Haverhill from 4 – 7 p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in his memory to the Alzheimer’s Assoc., 480 Pleasant St., Watertown, MA 02472. Interment will be held in Linwood Cemetery, Haverhill.