Born: December 20, 1932 Died: December 08, 2012 Services: A memorial service will take place at 11:00 on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at the United Church of Christ in Southbury CT. He will be laid to rest in the Church’s memorial wall with military honors thereafter.
Visitation: Friends may call on the family and remember John at the Munson-Lovetere Funeral Home, 235 Main Street North in Southbury, from 4 to 7 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.
John William Brackett, Jr, MD, died Saturday December 8th at his home in Oxford, CT surrounded by his family after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He was born December 20, 1932 in Concord NH the son of late John William and Alice (Smith) Brackett.
Dr. Brackett graduated from Concord High School and Columbia University. He then earned his MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1958. In June of 1958 he was also commissioned a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. He married Nancy Bogel in 1959. After his residency and fellowship training, he joined the staff of the Bethesda Naval Hospital as director of the pulmonary and infectious disease branch. He rose to the rank of Commander before resigning.
His family moved to Southbury CT in 1970, when he became chief of pulmonary medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury CT. He directed the intensive care unit for over 20 years, and was known as a compassionate and caring physician. He was actively involved in medical education, serving on the faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine and founding a pulmonary fellowship. He retired from St. Mary’s in 1996, where he has a library, a yearly humanities and ethics lecture, and a medical service named in his honor. He was actively involved and served as the president of both the CT Thoracic Society and the American Lung Association of CT and was honored with their joint humanitarian award in 1998.
Dr. Brackett was very involved in the Southbury community. He coached little league and girls softball teams, served on the town parks and recreation committee, and was instrumental in founding the Pop Warner football program. He was also the team physician for the Pop Warner and Pomperaug High School football teams for many years.
He was on the varsity crew team at Columbia, and returned to his beloved sport of rowing in 1981 as an active member of the New Haven Rowing Club. He competed nationally and internationally, winning dozens of medals. He was made a member emeritus in 2007. Beyond his love for his wife and family, he was fond of travel, music, photography, the Democratic Party and the Boston Red Sox.
Besides his wife Nancy, he leaves his children and their spouses: Dr. Charles Brackett and Joanne Hayes of Etna NH, Robert Brackett and Kathy of West Granby, Deborah Gracy and Bernard of Southbury, and Jennifer Brackett and Stuart Lathers of New Haven as well as 9 loving grandchildren and a niece-Mary Alice Duclos of Clifton Park, NY.
The family would like to thank Dr James Sarfeh for his loving care and friendship, Kris Jensen and the Visiting Nurse Services of CT, and Annabelle Santos, Monica Elliot and Brenda Cotto.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association, the Visiting Nurse Services of CT, the New Haven Rowing Club Downstream Development fund, or the United Church of Christ of Southbury Access Building Fund.
Cemetery: Cemetery Not Applicable (Map)
Location: Munson-Lovetere Southbury (Map) Funeral: United Church of Christ (Map)