William Brewster Mather ’33

Born to missionary parents in Baoding, China, Brew died in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Jan. 22, 2003, after a long illness. He was 92.

He was educated at home and in Tunchow at the North China American School. In 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek moved to eliminate the warlords, the US ordered women and children out of China. Brew continued his education in North Korea, after which his father took a sabbatical in Princeton, and Brew attended Princeton HS and then the university, where he majored in physics.

In 1934 he married Edith Reed. They returned to China, where Brew took two years of medical school, followed by two more years at Pennsylvania Medical School and an internship. He and Edith returned to Peking as missionaries. While at a language school in the Philippines, they were interned by the Japanese during the war. Their daughter was born in captivity. After the war, Brew returned to the US. He joined the staff of the McCosh Infirmary at Princeton, where he remained until he retired.

His long-term hobby was electronics. Brew is survived by his wife, sons William '57 and Richard, daughter Sally, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Brew led a wonderful life.

The Class of 1933