Putney - John "Howard" Brewster, 93, of Putney, formerly of Merritt Island, Fla., died Sunday, December 18, 2011, at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital following a sudden illness. He was born June 16, 1918, in Sunapee, N.H., a son of John Herbert and Ruth (Vaughan) Brewster. He attended schools in New Hampshire and Florida where his parents owned and operated hotels. He graduated from Central High in Manchester, N.H. in 1936 and attended the Stockbridge School of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, receiving a diploma in hotel administration in 1937. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Omaha Nebraska in 1964. On July 6, 1942 he married Joyce Wamsley in New Rochelle, N.Y. During World War II he joined the U.S. Army Air Force and served as a pilot flying the B 17, Flying Fortress in the European Theater and the B 29 Liberator in the Pacific Theater out of Saipan. In the Pacific he and his crew were awarded four Air Medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross and four battle stars. After the war he returned to the hotel business managing the Soo-Nipi Lodge on Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire and the Monson Hotel in St. Augustine, Fla. When the United States Air Force was formed he was invited to return and remained in the service until he retired in 1962 as a pilot and ultimately working with the Jupiter missile and Minuteman Missile programs. After his military retirement, he continued in the civilian space program with contractors in New Orleans, La., and Cape Canaveral, Fla. He spent his last working years working with the State of Florida. He loved Florida and he and his wife enjoyed an active retirement there. Howard loved the outdoors and was an avid fisherman and golfer. He enjoyed photography and woodworking and admired and owned sports cars and high fidelity equipment. After Howard suffered a coronary arrest he required care, and after his wife died, he lived with his daughters and their families, first in Florida and then in Putney for the last 14 years. Howard is survived by his three daughters, Jean Brewster Giddings and Thomas Ehrenberg of Putney, Vt., Joan Brewster of Jefferson City, Mont., and Wendy Brewster Berg and husband Christopher of Titusville, Fla.; his brother, Stanley Brewster of Roswell, N.M.; his sister-in-law, Patricia Wallace Brewster of New London, N.H.; and his grandchildren, Jonathan and Andrew Berg. He was predeceased by his parents, his wife, Joyce, his brothers, Warren Brewster of Jupiter, Fla. and Evans V. Brewster of White Plains, N.Y. and New London, N.H., and his sister, Patricia Austin of S. Yarmouth, Mass. and Lady Lake, Fla. A memorial service will be held at noon on Friday, December 23, at the Putney Friends Meeting House in Putney, Vt. In lieu of flowers, donations in Mr. Brewster's name may be made to Putney Family Services, P.O. Box 463, Putney, VT 05346.