VENANGO CO., Pa. (ETY) – Well-known local resident and Republican Party leader Martha Breene has passed away.

(Pictured: Martha Breene standing between her son, Venango County Commissioner Sam Breene, and Jefferson County Republican Chair Chad Horner at a political rally)

According to a family member, Breene passed away on Tuesday, October 19.

Breene not only served as Republican Committee Chairperson but also previously served as the party’s State Committeewoman from 2014 through 2017.

She was the wife of the late Charles E. Breene, a well-known figure in Pennsylvania Republican politics, who was appointed to serve as a member of the Pennsylvania State GOP Finance Committee in 1998 and was elected as the Pennsylvania GOP State Committeeman for Venango County in 1996, a position in which he served until passing away following a July 2015 car accident.

She was also the mother of Venango County Commissioner Sam Breene.