PEABODY — Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the death of beloved Peabody patrolman Henry R. Breckenridge. This season, the Henry R. Breckenridge Foundation was established in his honor and found a special way to keep Breckenridge’s memory alive, sponsoring several youth sports teams, including a Peabody Babe Ruth Baseball team.
League President and Eastern Massachusetts Babe Ruth District 1 Commissioner Jarrod Hochman said it was only fitting that the team that was selected for sponsorship was the Atlanta Braves, which won city bragging rights with a 2–1 best-of-three championship series win over the Mets on Tuesday.
“Henry was such a giant in the community,” Hochman said. “When we talked about which team to choose, Coach Don Ligh immediately said the Braves will be the team, to honor Henry’s “Brave”ry protecting the city. With #BeLikeHenry (embroidered) on all their hats, we think Henry gave the team some help when the Braves won that final Babe Ruth majors game of the season.”
Foundation President Justin Cecil called the outcome a “dream” ending.
“You just can’t write that storybook ending,” he said. “It was something right out of a movie especially the way they were wearing the #BeLikeHenry hats. Just incredible.”
Breckenridge’s sister-in-law, Danielle Breckenridge agreed.
“It’s great to be able to sponsor these three teams and the fact that this team (Braves) won it is just great,” she said. “Just the name of the team was a perfect fit and it’s mind-blowing to see how many people Henry impacted. It was the perfect ending when you really think about it because it’s amazing as we are supporting so many groups and individuals when you realize how many people he impacted. It’s been unreal.”
Hochman said the league’s partnership with the foundation began with a phone call from Cecil.
“He reached out to me to see what youth organizations they could support,” Hochman said. “We talked about Little League and some other organizations. Then we talked about Babe Ruth and the foundation took that on as well as both the Peabody West Little League and Peabody Little League (PLL) programs. The foundation is doing such amazing work and has raised a lot of money in a relatively short time, much quicker than many other foundations I’ve seen.”
Hochman said there were just two conditions attached to the sponsorship.
“They asked only for us to put #BeLikeHenry on the back of the hat, which usually is reserved for sponsors, and also to give a cap to Henry’s dad Leon,” Hochman said. “We held a clinic for PLL this year and Henry’s brother Robbie just happened to be at that clinic so we gave the hat to him.”
Breckenridge died at the age of 40 on July 19, 2023 at Salem Hospital following complications from surgery.
The son of Charlotte (Brown) and Leon H. Breckenridge, Henry Breckenridge was raised in Peabody and was a graduate of Bishop Fenwick High School, class of 2000. The 2023 Essex Media Group Peabody Person of the Year, Breckenridge continued his education at Cushing Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.
A true sports fan, Breckenridge coached football and baseball at Bishop Fenwick and Peabody High Schools. He served as a patrolman for the Peabody Police Department for seven years.
“Henry and his brothers Danny and Robbi and his father were coaches and Henry was a special guy,” Hochman said. “He knew how to engage people and how to make everyone feel better about themselves. He motivated people to be the best they could be. I am so happy the city has rallied around him.”
The Henry R. Breckenridge Charitable Foundation was established to honor his memory and continue his dedication to the community. According to its website, the foundation’s mission is to support organizations and individuals who promote the qualities Breckenridge exemplified throughout his life. Cecil said the foundation strives to support the organizations and activities that were dear to Breckenridge.
“We wanted to do things with the things that Henry supported on his own, Little League baseball, Babe Ruth baseball, and Peabody softball to name just a few,” Cecil said. “The things that Henry was passionate about.”
The foundation also grants scholarships to Peabody High and Bishop High seniors.
“It’s great to see the foundation scholarships awarded at convocation and to see the foundation’s involvement with youth sports in the city,” Hochman said. “We ask all of our families, fans, and friends to remember Henry all the time, but especially this week with the anniversary of his passing and continue to inspire and uplift our community, just as Henry would have wanted.”
For more information about the foundation, contact the foundation at henrybreckenridgefoundation@gmail.com or visit https://www.belikehenry.com/.
