ROBERT ALDEN BREWSTER

1931 - 2020

Robert Alden Brewster
October 24, 1931 – April 13, 2020
Robert "Bob" Brewster passed away at the age of 88 at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. He had been valiantly battling Parkinson's Disease for 8 years but fell victim to Covid-19 and complications. He is remembered best for his good nature, his witty word play, and his beautiful smile.
Bob was the only child of Harold S. Brewster, a senior accountant at Universal Studios, and Hazel (Morris), a hat designer and importer. He grew up in Toluca Lake, North Hollywood and attended Harvard School for Boys, a military high school in nearby Studio City.
While attending UCLA he joined the Naval Reserve. He was called into active duty near the end of the Korean War and briefly served as a sonarman aboard the USS Frank E. Evans in 1953. Bob graduated from UCLA in 1956 with a BS in Engineering, and several years later earned a master's degree. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He also had a diploma from the Institute of Radio Engineers.
In 1957, he married Dorothy Patricia "Pat" (Berry), whom he had met at a U.C.L.A. dance. The next year he became a Test Engineer for Hughes Aircraft Company at the Los Angeles airport site. They bought their first home in Palos Verdes in 1959. Over the next ten years their four children were born. Meanwhile, Bob continued to work for Hughes, commuting or transferring at various times to sites in Long Beach, Canoga Park, Alameda, Tucson and Switzerland. He retired in 1997 after 39 years with Hughes.
Besides keeping up with his technology magazines, Bob also enjoyed music, humor and dancing. He played the saxophone and clarinet in his school band. But his piano playing he carried into adulthood. Having taken 11 years of piano while growing up, he would serenade his family in the evenings after work. He also sang in the church choir at Rolling Hills Methodist Church and Rolling Hills Covenant Church. And on family driving trips, his low-pitched harmonies could always be heard complementing his family as they sang Christmas carols and other favorites. He even memorized the comic monologues and songs of Stanley Holloway, and would often perform them at family gatherings. Bob and Pat continued to love to dance together, ballroom dancing, line dancing and square dancing, until the Parkinson's Disease gave him trouble with balance.
Over the years, Bob and Pat took their family to Hawaii, Illinois, England, France and Monaco and on several cruises. In later years, they enjoyed fifteen educational Elderhostel/Road Scholar programs to destinations in the United States, and to England, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Egypt, France, and Spain. Some of these Elderhostel trips included grandchildren.
Bob was first diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a degenerative disease, in 2012. Over the next 8 years, Bob and Pat became a team to battle the disease together, seeking out treatments, and keeping an impressive schedule of exercises to maximize Bob's functional capacity. When he moved to a board and care home, Pat spent many hours each day by his side. They ate meals together, exercised, watched old movies, worked jigsaw puzzles, and listened to Audible books, some with the kind of humor he had always appreciated. It is to Bob's credit that as his condition worsened, he never complained to Pat or caregivers, but always kept his sunny disposition.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, his children, Susan, Sharon, Karen and David, and their spouses, his grandchildren, Nathan, Joanna and Priscilla Deng, Alicia and Alex Brodsky, and Corben and Ryan Broennimann, and his sister-in-law and husband, Marjorie and Tim Sullivan.
A short graveside ceremony, limited to 10 guests, was held at Forest Lawn, Glendale on May 1, 2020, with the hope of holding a memorial service at some point in the future when current restrictions on gathering together are lifted. Meanwhile, readers are invited to sign the guest book for Robert Alden Brewster at Tributes.com.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made, to the Parkinson's Foundation, 858-283-0231, or 200 SE 1st St., Suite 800
Miami, FL 33131, with a note saying your donation is in memory of Robert Brewster.