Necrology
Scott Ridge Brewer '44
May. 2, 1922-Jul. 24, 2021
Scott Ridge Brewer ’44 died at Casey House, the hospice care center for Montgomery County located in Rockville, Md., on July 14, 2021.
Born in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 2, 1922, and the oldest of three children, he moved with his family to Bethesda, Md., in 1934, when he was 12. First Bethesda and later the neighboring community of Chevy Chase would be his home for the remainder of his life.
In the spring of 1940, as a high school senior, his attention was drawn to Sub-Freshman Day on the Hill. He made his way north, bunked in the Theta Delta Phi fraternity house, and met Milt Fillius ’44. They both were sold on the school and became lifelong friends. Following his graduation from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Scott matriculated at Hamilton in the fall of 1940. Like many, his introduction to the standards set by Professor Thomas Johnston in freshman English was formative and lasting. In his 50th reunion, he said of his former professor, “I will always remain indebted to him” for the high expectations he had for his students. Scott became a member of Alpha Delta Phi and majored in history and political science.
His education was interrupted early in 1943 when he was summoned for military service during World War II. He served for two-and-a-half years in what was then the Army Air Corps as a radar mechanic in Italy before being discharged with the rank of sergeant in 1945. While he was away in the war, his brother, Robert Brewer ’48, had come to the College. Scott returned to campus in 1946 to finish his studies. He would graduate in 1947, but his allegiance would remain with his original matriculating class, which graduated in 1944.
After graduation, he made his way to New York City and went to work for the advertising firm of J. Walter Thompson. Shortly thereafter, on what he described as a “double blind date,” he met Carol Banta, whom he would marry in 1948. Their marriage lasted 72 years, until Carol’s death in August 2020; they had three children. In 1949, the couple decided to move to Chevy Chase to take over his recently deceased father’s real estate business. Over the next 28 years, the enterprise grew significantly, in part, Scott acknowledged, “thanks to a growing real estate market.” He sold it in 1982, but continued to keep his hand in realty.
While Scott would report that he had three “special” hobbies — tennis, golf, and bicycling — it was the third one that became his greatest passion. His son, Parke, provided the catalyst. While in college at DePauw University, Parke became a member of his fraternity’s four-man bicycle racing team beginning in 1972. He continued through college and for a couple of years thereafter to compete as an amateur. His parents were impressed, and in 1973, as 25th anniversary gifts, Scott and Carol gave each other bicycles.
In 1976, Scott, Carol, and Parke spent a couple of weeks riding a section of the “Bikecentennial Trail” in Indiana and Illinois. It was Scott’s first experience in bicycle touring and he was hooked. Thereafter, he biked many routes in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, from the Erie Canal to the Shenandoah Valley, and led or participated in numerous tours. He even traversed the Katy Trail, a 240-mile rail-trail that crosses Missouri. In 2002, aged 80, he completed the 100-mile Seagull Century in Salisbury, Md. He also biked in the Rhone Valley in France as well as in the Netherlands, and continued riding until he was 93.
Scott had a great sense of social responsibility. His service both to his community and to Hamilton was extraordinary. He devoted more than 40 years to the work of Kiwanis, including holding the offices of president of the Bethesda Club, district governor, and international chairman. He was president of the Bethesda Chevy Chase High School Educational Foundation. He was an active member initially of the Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, Md., as it was being developed as a continuing care retirement community, and then of the Chevy Chase United Methodist Church, where he was steward. He was also active in the YMCA.
His dedication to Hamilton was no less notable. He attended every class reunion held for many years. He served a term as president of the Washington, D.C., Alumni Association. After serving as chair of his class’s reunion gift committee for its 40th reunion, he became class agent for the Annual Fund at the time of his 45th reunion in 1989. He supported funding of the Edgar B. Graves Scholarship and read with great interest letters from students who were its recipients. He also played a central role in several of the College’s capital campaigns from 1978 through 2010, the latter in the run-up to the 2012 bicentennial celebration of Hamilton’s founding. In 2011, Scott, along with his nephew, Robert G. Brewer, Jr. ’73, P’09, established the Brewer Family Scholarship in recognition of the family’s three-generation association with Hamilton which included Scott’s brother, Robert, and great-nephew, Robert S. Brewer ’09. This scholarship was established to support Hamilton’s distinguished policy of need-blind admission, now in its 12th year.
Having lived a long, active, and generous life, Scott R. Brewer is survived by two daughters and one son, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
