Albert V Bratt

Albert V. Bratt, Jr., 91, of Lake City, FL and Center Harbor, passed away on Wednesday, January 8, 2014, at his home in Lake City, FL after a battle with lung cancer. He was raised in Wellesley Farms, MA, spending summers his summers in Center Harbor.

During his high school years he attended the Cambridge School, in Weston, MA. In February 1943, he enlisted with the Army Air Force while a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire. He trained to be a fighter pilot and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, 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 that he met and subsequently married his wife Betty, a union which has lasted for 66 years.

Upon graduation he went to work at Logan International Airport, in Boston, holding various management positions until his retirement in 1987 as the Asst. Director of Aviation. He also continued to serve in the Air Force 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 they continued to spend their summers together in Center Harbor.

Albert is survived by his wife Betty (Smith) Bratt, of Lake City, FL; his son, Steve Bratt and his wife Carol, of Lynnfield, MA; his four daughters, Paula Prucknicki and her husband John, of Danvers, MA, Donna Sawyer and her husband Dan, Carol Crowley, of Scottsville, VA, Teresa Stapleton and husband Joe, of N. Easton, MA; Albert is also survived by his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.