1927 – 2003

PORTLAND – Seward Blanchard “Pat” Brewster, 75, died on Thursday, April 10, at Maine Medical Center due to complications following an automobile accident.

An attorney and founder of Pine Tree Legal Assistance, he was born in Newton, Mass., in 1927. Between 1946 and 1947, he served in the U.S. Army where he was stationed in South Korea. He graduated from Kimball Union Academy in 1944, Dartmouth College in 1950, and Harvard Law School in 1955, the same year he married Carol Whitham of Ridgefield, Conn. He was a teacher and coach at Deerfield Academy before entering law school. He began the practice of law in Worcester, Mass., with the law firm of Myrick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee. In 1961 he moved to Maine with his family to join the legal department of Central Maine Power Company in Augusta, where he served as general counsel from 1969 to 1984. He then served as a staff attorney and hearing officer for the Public Utilities Commission until his retirement in 1994. In 1966 he founded Pine Tree Legal Assistance, a non-profit organization providing legal services for those in need. Over the years, he chaired the Kennebec Valley YMCA board of directors, served on the Maine Peace Action Board in Portland, and volunteered at the Pine Tree State Arboretum. He was one of the founders of the University of Maine at Augusta Senior College in 2002 and a member of its board of directors. He had a lifelong association with Birch Rock Camp, a boys camp in East Waterford, where he was a camper, counselor, Maine Guide, and longtime board member. One fellow board member described Pat as the “embodiment of the camp motto: ‘Help the Other Fellow.’ He will be remembered for his patience, strength, quiet courage, and gentle kindness.”

He is survived by his widow, Carol of Manchester; two sons, Seth of Cape Elizabeth and Toby of Concord, N.H.; and seven grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son, Ben.

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