Cynthia Bishop Brewster, 83, a piano teacher, World War II W.A.V.E., accomplished sailor and the granddaughter of the late Edwin Oxner of Marblehead's E.H. Oxner Boatyard, died October 14, 2005, at her Marblehead home of cancer.
Mrs. Brewster was born Cynthia Story Bishop on June 8, 1922, the only child of Ralph Ewart Bishop and the former Louise Story Oxner of Dorchester. She was an infant when her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and she was sent to live with her maternal grandparents, Mr. Oxner, then general manager of George Lawley and Son shipyard in Neponset, and his wife, Alice.
After her father's death, her mother joined her and the grandparents, and they moved to Merrymount, Quincy, where Mrs. Brewster spent her school years. She developed a love of the piano, vowing to herself in the eighth grade that she would practice three hours a day.
Mrs. Brewster graduated from Quincy High School in 1940 and went on to Radcliffe, where she earned her A.B. in music in 1944.
After graduating, she joined the war effort, entering the Naval Officers' Training Corps at Smith College, a women's program run by Mildred McAfee, the head of the W.A.V.E.S.
Mrs. Brewster was then assigned to the Naval Communications Annex in Washington, D.C., where she worked on deciphering Japanese codes and was honorably discharged with the rank of lieutenant.
She entered the New England Conservatory in 1946, studying piano, taking up the organ, and teaching harmony. She received her M.A. in piano in 1950.
During summers in high school and college and throughout her years at the Conservatory, Mrs. Brewster lived in Marblehead, where she developed a passion for sailing and racing, crewing on a friend's International One-Design with crewmembers, including distinguished yachtsman Ted Hood.
In the summer of 1948, Mrs. Brewster saw a T-Class racing sloop moored in Marblehead Harbor with a "for sale" sign on the mast, and she knew it was the boat for her. The boat had been built at Graves's shipyard in 1929 as part of a series and had survived the hurricane of 1938. She bought the boat and christened it "Circe." She never added a motor to Circe, and, in 2004, at the age of 82, she could still maneuver Circe in and out of crowded Marblehead Harbor by sail alone.
In 1950, Mrs. Brewster joined the faculty of Pine Manor College, which was then in Wellesley and spent a decade there, teaching piano and music theory. During that time, she also served as a frequent organist at Old North Congregational, St. Michael's Episcopal and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Marblehead.
At a New Year's Eve party in 1947, she had met Dudley Nichols Brewster of Danvers, an electronics engineer and avid photographer. A decade later, they married at Marblehead's Old North Church. They settled in Wellesley but continued to visit Marblehead weekly. Mrs. Brewster stopped teaching at Pine Manor in 1960, just before the birth of her first child.
Eight years later, with two young children, Mrs. Brewster returned to teaching, this time offering private instruction at her Wellesley home. For more than three decades, she taught as many as 65 private piano and music theory lessons per week, instructing hundreds of students over the course of her career. In the 1970s, she also joined the faculty of The Village Music School in Wellesley, where she taught until the school's close in 2003.
In 1988, upon the death of her mother, Louise S. Waters, she inherited the family home in Marblehead that her grandparents had purchased in 1945. Mrs. Brewster was widowed in 1995, and last year, after being diagnosed with cancer, she moved back to Marblehead full-time to share her home with her son.
Mrs. Brewster took her last sail on Circe on September 6 of this year.
She is survived by her son, Jonathan Nichols Brewster of Marblehead; her daughter, Louise Brewster Brockett of New York City; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 5 at 3 p.m. at the Wellesley Congregational Village Church, 2 Central St., Wellesley. Friends and relatives are kindly invited.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Cynthia Brewster to support cancer research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and sent to: Development Office, Massachusetts General Hospital, 165 Cambridge St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114.
(Published Thursday, October 27, 2005 in the Marblehead Reporter)
Mrs. Brewster was born Cynthia Story Bishop on June 8, 1922, the only child of Ralph Ewart Bishop and the former Louise Story Oxner of Dorchester. She was an infant when her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and she was sent to live with her maternal grandparents, Mr. Oxner, then general manager of George Lawley and Son shipyard in Neponset, and his wife, Alice.
After her father's death, her mother joined her and the grandparents, and they moved to Merrymount, Quincy, where Mrs. Brewster spent her school years. She developed a love of the piano, vowing to herself in the eighth grade that she would practice three hours a day.
Mrs. Brewster graduated from Quincy High School in 1940 and went on to Radcliffe, where she earned her A.B. in music in 1944.
After graduating, she joined the war effort, entering the Naval Officers' Training Corps at Smith College, a women's program run by Mildred McAfee, the head of the W.A.V.E.S.
Mrs. Brewster was then assigned to the Naval Communications Annex in Washington, D.C., where she worked on deciphering Japanese codes and was honorably discharged with the rank of lieutenant.
She entered the New England Conservatory in 1946, studying piano, taking up the organ, and teaching harmony. She received her M.A. in piano in 1950.
During summers in high school and college and throughout her years at the Conservatory, Mrs. Brewster lived in Marblehead, where she developed a passion for sailing and racing, crewing on a friend's International One-Design with crewmembers, including distinguished yachtsman Ted Hood.
In the summer of 1948, Mrs. Brewster saw a T-Class racing sloop moored in Marblehead Harbor with a "for sale" sign on the mast, and she knew it was the boat for her. The boat had been built at Graves's shipyard in 1929 as part of a series and had survived the hurricane of 1938. She bought the boat and christened it "Circe." She never added a motor to Circe, and, in 2004, at the age of 82, she could still maneuver Circe in and out of crowded Marblehead Harbor by sail alone.
In 1950, Mrs. Brewster joined the faculty of Pine Manor College, which was then in Wellesley and spent a decade there, teaching piano and music theory. During that time, she also served as a frequent organist at Old North Congregational, St. Michael's Episcopal and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Marblehead.
At a New Year's Eve party in 1947, she had met Dudley Nichols Brewster of Danvers, an electronics engineer and avid photographer. A decade later, they married at Marblehead's Old North Church. They settled in Wellesley but continued to visit Marblehead weekly. Mrs. Brewster stopped teaching at Pine Manor in 1960, just before the birth of her first child.
Eight years later, with two young children, Mrs. Brewster returned to teaching, this time offering private instruction at her Wellesley home. For more than three decades, she taught as many as 65 private piano and music theory lessons per week, instructing hundreds of students over the course of her career. In the 1970s, she also joined the faculty of The Village Music School in Wellesley, where she taught until the school's close in 2003.
In 1988, upon the death of her mother, Louise S. Waters, she inherited the family home in Marblehead that her grandparents had purchased in 1945. Mrs. Brewster was widowed in 1995, and last year, after being diagnosed with cancer, she moved back to Marblehead full-time to share her home with her son.
Mrs. Brewster took her last sail on Circe on September 6 of this year.
She is survived by her son, Jonathan Nichols Brewster of Marblehead; her daughter, Louise Brewster Brockett of New York City; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 5 at 3 p.m. at the Wellesley Congregational Village Church, 2 Central St., Wellesley. Friends and relatives are kindly invited.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Cynthia Brewster to support cancer research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and sent to: Development Office, Massachusetts General Hospital, 165 Cambridge St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114.
(Published Thursday, October 27, 2005 in the Marblehead Reporter)
Cynthia Bishop Brewster, 83, a piano teacher, World War II W.A.V.E., accomplished sailor and the granddaughter of the late Edwin Oxner of Marblehead's E.H. Oxner Boatyard, died October 14, 2005, at her Marblehead home of cancer.
Mrs. Brewster was born Cynthia Story Bishop on June 8, 1922, the only child of Ralph Ewart Bishop and the former Louise Story Oxner of Dorchester. She was an infant when her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and she was sent to live with her maternal grandparents, Mr. Oxner, then general manager of George Lawley and Son shipyard in Neponset, and his wife, Alice.
After her father's death, her mother joined her and the grandparents, and they moved to Merrymount, Quincy, where Mrs. Brewster spent her school years. She developed a love of the piano, vowing to herself in the eighth grade that she would practice three hours a day.
Mrs. Brewster graduated from Quincy High School in 1940 and went on to Radcliffe, where she earned her A.B. in music in 1944.
After graduating, she joined the war effort, entering the Naval Officers' Training Corps at Smith College, a women's program run by Mildred McAfee, the head of the W.A.V.E.S.
Mrs. Brewster was then assigned to the Naval Communications Annex in Washington, D.C., where she worked on deciphering Japanese codes and was honorably discharged with the rank of lieutenant.
She entered the New England Conservatory in 1946, studying piano, taking up the organ, and teaching harmony. She received her M.A. in piano in 1950.
During summers in high school and college and throughout her years at the Conservatory, Mrs. Brewster lived in Marblehead, where she developed a passion for sailing and racing, crewing on a friend's International One-Design with crewmembers, including distinguished yachtsman Ted Hood.
In the summer of 1948, Mrs. Brewster saw a T-Class racing sloop moored in Marblehead Harbor with a "for sale" sign on the mast, and she knew it was the boat for her. The boat had been built at Graves's shipyard in 1929 as part of a series and had survived the hurricane of 1938. She bought the boat and christened it "Circe." She never added a motor to Circe, and, in 2004, at the age of 82, she could still maneuver Circe in and out of crowded Marblehead Harbor by sail alone.
In 1950, Mrs. Brewster joined the faculty of Pine Manor College, which was then in Wellesley and spent a decade there, teaching piano and music theory. During that time, she also served as a frequent organist at Old North Congregational, St. Michael's Episcopal and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Marblehead.
At a New Year's Eve party in 1947, she had met Dudley Nichols Brewster of Danvers, an electronics engineer and avid photographer. A decade later, they married at Marblehead's Old North Church. They settled in Wellesley but continued to visit Marblehead weekly. Mrs. Brewster stopped teaching at Pine Manor in 1960, just before the birth of her first child.
Eight years later, with two young children, Mrs. Brewster returned to teaching, this time offering private instruction at her Wellesley home. For more than three decades, she taught as many as 65 private piano and music theory lessons per week, instructing hundreds of students over the course of her career. In the 1970s, she also joined the faculty of The Village Music School in Wellesley, where she taught until the school's close in 2003.
In 1988, upon the death of her mother, Louise S. Waters, she inherited the family home in Marblehead that her grandparents had purchased in 1945. Mrs. Brewster was widowed in 1995, and last year, after being diagnosed with cancer, she moved back to Marblehead full-time to share her home with her son.
Mrs. Brewster took her last sail on Circe on September 6 of this year.
She is survived by her son, Jonathan Nichols Brewster of Marblehead; her daughter, Louise Brewster Brockett of New York City; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 5 at 3 p.m. at the Wellesley Congregational Village Church, 2 Central St., Wellesley. Friends and relatives are kindly invited.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Cynthia Brewster to support cancer research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and sent to: Development Office, Massachusetts General Hospital, 165 Cambridge St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114.
(Published Thursday, October 27, 2005 in the Marblehead Reporter)
Mrs. Brewster was born Cynthia Story Bishop on June 8, 1922, the only child of Ralph Ewart Bishop and the former Louise Story Oxner of Dorchester. She was an infant when her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and she was sent to live with her maternal grandparents, Mr. Oxner, then general manager of George Lawley and Son shipyard in Neponset, and his wife, Alice.
After her father's death, her mother joined her and the grandparents, and they moved to Merrymount, Quincy, where Mrs. Brewster spent her school years. She developed a love of the piano, vowing to herself in the eighth grade that she would practice three hours a day.
Mrs. Brewster graduated from Quincy High School in 1940 and went on to Radcliffe, where she earned her A.B. in music in 1944.
After graduating, she joined the war effort, entering the Naval Officers' Training Corps at Smith College, a women's program run by Mildred McAfee, the head of the W.A.V.E.S.
Mrs. Brewster was then assigned to the Naval Communications Annex in Washington, D.C., where she worked on deciphering Japanese codes and was honorably discharged with the rank of lieutenant.
She entered the New England Conservatory in 1946, studying piano, taking up the organ, and teaching harmony. She received her M.A. in piano in 1950.
During summers in high school and college and throughout her years at the Conservatory, Mrs. Brewster lived in Marblehead, where she developed a passion for sailing and racing, crewing on a friend's International One-Design with crewmembers, including distinguished yachtsman Ted Hood.
In the summer of 1948, Mrs. Brewster saw a T-Class racing sloop moored in Marblehead Harbor with a "for sale" sign on the mast, and she knew it was the boat for her. The boat had been built at Graves's shipyard in 1929 as part of a series and had survived the hurricane of 1938. She bought the boat and christened it "Circe." She never added a motor to Circe, and, in 2004, at the age of 82, she could still maneuver Circe in and out of crowded Marblehead Harbor by sail alone.
In 1950, Mrs. Brewster joined the faculty of Pine Manor College, which was then in Wellesley and spent a decade there, teaching piano and music theory. During that time, she also served as a frequent organist at Old North Congregational, St. Michael's Episcopal and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Marblehead.
At a New Year's Eve party in 1947, she had met Dudley Nichols Brewster of Danvers, an electronics engineer and avid photographer. A decade later, they married at Marblehead's Old North Church. They settled in Wellesley but continued to visit Marblehead weekly. Mrs. Brewster stopped teaching at Pine Manor in 1960, just before the birth of her first child.
Eight years later, with two young children, Mrs. Brewster returned to teaching, this time offering private instruction at her Wellesley home. For more than three decades, she taught as many as 65 private piano and music theory lessons per week, instructing hundreds of students over the course of her career. In the 1970s, she also joined the faculty of The Village Music School in Wellesley, where she taught until the school's close in 2003.
In 1988, upon the death of her mother, Louise S. Waters, she inherited the family home in Marblehead that her grandparents had purchased in 1945. Mrs. Brewster was widowed in 1995, and last year, after being diagnosed with cancer, she moved back to Marblehead full-time to share her home with her son.
Mrs. Brewster took her last sail on Circe on September 6 of this year.
She is survived by her son, Jonathan Nichols Brewster of Marblehead; her daughter, Louise Brewster Brockett of New York City; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 5 at 3 p.m. at the Wellesley Congregational Village Church, 2 Central St., Wellesley. Friends and relatives are kindly invited.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Cynthia Brewster to support cancer research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and sent to: Development Office, Massachusetts General Hospital, 165 Cambridge St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114.
(Published Thursday, October 27, 2005 in the Marblehead Reporter)
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