CAROL W. BREWSTER

MANCHESTER -- Carol W. Brewster, 81, of Manchester, died on Jan. 15, 2013, at MaineGeneral Medical Center, Augusta, after a brief illness.

Carol was born on March 26, 1931, in Port Chester, N.Y., as the oldest of three children to Kenneth and Beatrice Whitham. In 1948, she graduated from Port Chester High School and Middlebury College, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in American literature in 1952. Through college, Carol waited on tables to help pay her college expenses. It was at Middlebury where Carol developed her lifelong love of alpine skiing.

After Middlebury, Carol became a copy editor for The Christian Science Monitor in Boston and lived with Middlebury friends in Cambridge. In October 1953, she met Seward "Pat" Brewster, a second-year law student at Harvard Law School, at a Halloween party. On June 11, 1955, Carol and Pat were married, and they moved to Worcester, Mass., to start their life together and where they had three sons.

In 1961, Carol and her family moved to Manchester, so Pat could eventually become General Counsel for Central Maine Power Co., and they could raise their sons in a 19th-century farmhouse on the shores of Cobbossee Lake. There, as Carol has said, she tended to children, assorted pets including dogs, cats, sheep, ducks, fish, turtles, hamsters, mice, parakeets and a very loud parrot, and an organic vegetable garden, adding peace and justice and environmental concerns to the mix.

Carol loved writing and the written word. Some of the publications for which she was an editor included The Maine Land Advocate for the Maine Community Land Trust, Maine Environment for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the University of Maine at Augusta Senior College newsletter, and the Middlebury Class of '52 newsletter, to name a few. Carol also was a substitute teacher and taught fourth grade in the Readfield Elementary School in 1969-1970.

Carol was an artist. A master gardener, Carol's gardens at her Manchester home were gorgeous. She sang in choral groups, including CODA Chorus and she sang and acted in local theater productions. She was a poet, an author of short stories, and one of her most cherished memories was her conversation about writing with poet Robert Frost. Carol was a founder of the University of Maine at Augusta Senior College and served on its board of directors for 10 years. For the past 30 years, she was a trustee for Birch Rock Camp, a summer boys' camp in Waterford. Carol volunteered for Viles Arboretum and the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, was a member of Prime Time, an over-50 ski group and a long-time member of the First Church Christ, Scientist, in Augusta.

Carol was predeceased by her husband, Pat, in 2003; and her son, Benjamin, in 1985. She is survived by her son, Seth, of South Portland; son, Toby, and his wife, Becca, of Concord, N.H.; and her seven grandchildren, Ben, Will, Hannah, Eli, Peter, Tory and Seth. Carol also is survived by her sister, Joyce, and her husband, Charles, of Lakewood, Colo.; her brother, Ken, and his wife, Judy, of Alamo, Calif. and her nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Viles Arboretum, 153 Hospital St., Augusta, ME 04330.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Viles Arboretum, the Birch Rock Camp Scholarship Fund, 30 Bellevue Ave., South Portland, ME 04106; or the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 9400 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011.

Arrangements are in the care of Knowlton & Hewins Funeral Home, 1 Church St., Augusta. Memories, condolences, photos and videos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of our website at www.khrfuneralhomes.com.