William Breen Sr., a retired general manager of MPX, formerly the Maine Printing Co., who had a passion for Boston sports teams, died Sunday. He was 80.

Mr. Breen worked for the Portland printing company for 60 years. Last spring, he was featured in a segment on the WCSH-TV program “207” recognizing his dedication to the company.

Mr. Breen became interested in printing as a senior at Portland High School. In 1953, he won a national printing contest conducted by Ford Motor Co. for a two-color printing of President Eisenhower’s inaugural address.

He graduated that year and went to work at Maine Printing, beginning as a press operator and quickly becoming production manager. Over the years, he worked his way up to become general manager.

He retired, but it didn’t last long. He returned to MPX as a client service specialist. He worked until September, when his health began to decline. In the segment produced by WCSH-TV, his colleagues spoke of his dedication to the company and his willingness to change with the times.

“He’s had to reinvent himself three times in the last 20 years,” Robert Willis, the company’s president and chief financial officer, said in the segment. “Today, for instance, he is checking every one of our orders … and he checks all of our billing after it’s done to make sure it’s accurate. … It’s a lot of fact-checking.”

Mr. Breen worked long hours to ensure projects were done. His colleagues said he was a great mentor and friend.

“Bill was extremely knowledgeable,” said Carl Harris, an account representative at MPX. “He was caring and supportive of the people he worked with. He was one of the nicest people you could ever meet. It’s a great loss of a friend, no question about it.”

He was the husband of Carolyn Oliver for 46 years. The couple lived in Cape Elizabeth, where they raised four children. She died in 2009.

Mr. Breen was an active member of the community. In his early years, he coached Little League. He was also a member and Eucharistic minister at St. Bartholomew’s Church.

William Breen Jr. of Cape Elizabeth spoke of his father’s dedication to family and friends. “He was a good father who was always there for us,” his son said.

Mr. Breen had a deep passion for Boston’s sports teams. For many years, he would travel to Florida for a month or longer to watch the Red Sox during spring training. His son and sister, Irene Morgan, would often go with him.

“He hated being there by himself,” his son said. “Those were some of our best times together.”

A daughter, Kelly Hodgkins of South Portland, noted their family vacations to Disney World, Lake George, Hershey Park and Cape Cod.

“Some of my favorite memories of my dad as a child were our family vacations, where we would all pile into our family station wagon to see where our next vacation would take us,” she said in an email. “I always enjoyed my dad’s homemade breakfast on his back deck on Sunday mornings. They will be truly missed.”

 

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