Albert V. Bratt Jr.

Mr. Albert V. Bratt, Jr., 91, of Lake City, FL and Center Harbor, NH, passed away Wednesday January 8, 2014 at the Suwannee Valley Haven Hospice Care Center after an extended illness. He grew up in Wellesley Farms, MA, spending summers on Lake Waukewan in Center Harbor, NH. During his high school years he attended the Cambridge School in Weston, MA. In February 1943 he joined the Army Air Force while a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire. He trained to be a fighter pilot and was commissioned a 2nd Lt in March 1944. He then went overseas, joining the 79th Fighter Group operating in the Mediterranean Theatre, flying P-47 Thunderbolts. On his 40th combat mission, he was shot down over Yugoslavia by ground fire; he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; and spent the last 4 months of WWII as a POW. In the fall of 1945, he entered Purdue University, graduating in 1948 with a B.S. Degree in Air Transportation. It was there he met and subsequently married his wife Betty, a union which lasted for 65 years. Upon graduation, he went to work at Logan International Airport in Boston, holding various management positions until his retirement in 1987 as Asst. Director of Aviation. He also continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve until 1966, retiring with the rank of Lt. Colonel. In 1997, after living for 3 years in Wellesley Farms, 7 years in Norwood and 39 years in Lynnfield, MA, he and his wife moved to Cannon Creek Airpark in Lake City, FL, but, continued to spend summers on Lake Waukewan in NH.
He is survived by his wife Betty; a son: Steve (Carol) Bratt of Lynnfield, MA; a daughter: Paula (John) Prucknicki of Danvers, MA; two daughters: Donna (Dan) Sawyer and Carol Crowley of Scottsville, VA; and a fourth daughter: Teresa (Joe) Stapleton of N. Easton, MA. He is also survived by eleven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held in the Chapel of the Dees-Parrish Family Funeral Home in Lake City at 11 A.M. Monday January 13, 2014 with Rev. Mike Norman officiating. A subsequent memorial service will be held at the Mayhew Funeral Home in Meredith, NH at a later date; followed by burial of his cremated remains in the nearby Center Harbor Memorial Park Cemetery at a time to be announced. Arrangements are under the care of Dees-Parrish Family Funeral Home of Lake City, 458 S. Marion Ave., Lake City, FL, 32025. Please sign the online guestbook at parrishfamilyfuneralhome.com.