Joe-of-All-Trades Adds Court Administrator to His List

AVALON — Most of us have known teachers, firefighters, police officers, council members and soldiers. But not many have known one person who’s been all those things.
A local man who’s worn all of those hats is Philadelphia native and long-time Avalon resident Joe Breslin.
Just like the subject in the old Frank Sinatra tune “That’s Life” who’s “been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king,” at one time or another, the 62-year-old Breslin has served as an English teacher at Wildwood Catholic High School, an Avalon volunteer firefighter, a Stone Harbor Class II police officer, an Avalon Borough Councilman and a U.S. Marine.
In January 2005, Breslin added to that list when he stepped down from his Borough Council seat to take a job in the Avalon Municipal Court. Currently serving as deputy court administrator, Breslin recently completed his administrator certification so that he’s ready to step into the top spot if long-serving Court Administrator Mary Monks retires.
“If that happens, I’ll have some big shoes to fill,” Breslin said, noting that Monks had been in the Avalon courts for over 30 years. He also jokingly worried that if Monk retired, his duties as court administrator might take away time from his regular golf games at the Pines of Clermont.
Breslin was one of 16 administrator candidates throughout the state to be certified on Jan. 5 by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.
Monk told the Herald that Breslin had been going through the certification process, which included continuing education and testing, for the past several years. In the last phase of certification, Breslin utilized his experience as an educator to improve the courts in his final project, entitled “The Power of the Professional Pen.”
He proposed to “develop a series of workshops and/or exercises to assist court personnel in honing their writing skills in order to: recognize common errors in writing, enhance professional presentations, alleviate apprehension and build confidence in daily professional writing activities and utilize my 36 years of teaching experience in a way to benefit my peers.”
“While the end result will be beneficial to the court personnel, it will likewise benefit the public by providing clearly articulated correspondence, easily understood,” Breslin’s proposal stated.
Breslin likely learned his love of English grammar from the Jesuits at both St. Joseph’s Prep and University in Philadelphia. He grew up the third of 11 children in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in Southwest Philly and comes from a family of professionals that includes several teachers, lawyers and doctors, he said.
He moved to Avalon in 1968 to take a position at Wildwood Catholic, where he stayed for 36 years. Breslin told the Herald that the students used to call him “G.I. Joe” (behind his back of course) because of his Marine background.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com