Tom was born on March 25, 1958, the third child and second son of Betty and Bob Breen. The entire Breen family suffered a devastating blow when, five months after Tom's birth, Betty tragically passed away. Surrounded by loving family and friends, including Bob's second wife and daughter, Tom's childhood was a happy one.

Tom graduated from Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Connecticut in 1976. He went on to earn his Political Science degree from Duquesne University in 1980, and a degree in pharmacy from Duquesne's Mylan School of Pharmacy.

While at Duquesne, Tom was active in sports and became a brother in the Alpha Phi Delta fraternity. It was during his years at Duquesne that bipolar symptoms became apparent and several suicide attempts demonstrated the severity of the disease.

Tom went on to hold a Pharmacy licence in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maine and Massachusetts, all the while battling the day-to-day torment of the stygmatized disorder largely in private. Through all of this, Tom went on to what he felt was his greatest achievement -- opening the Dragon in The Abyss Dispensatory, where traditional Chinese medicine and herbal compounds could be found. Tom was the proprietor of the establishment until its closing.

Tom was a 6' 1", Harley-riding, sweet-spirited man to whom children and adults alike were naturally drawn. When not riding, he could be found with his head in a book or helping others learn. Tom loved helping others. With his huge heart and his equally huge intellect, he offered much to his corner of the world.

From his early twenties on, Tom's bipolar disorder was treated mostly pharmaceutically. Counseling was incorporated into his treatment following his suicide attempts and when he was dealing with some of the addictions that co-occur frequently in those living with bipolar disorder.

Tom's last attempt to free himself of the uncontrollable highs and excruciating lows of bipolar disorder came on December 3, 2002. He took his last breath on December 17, 2002.

Tom's Hope has come into being to honor this man and to help spare others from the same pain that drove him to end his life.