Charles Edward Pratt, known to family and friends as "Ed" was born in Brockton, MA, the oldest of Charles Henry and Bertha Simpson Pratt’s five children. His brothers and sisters were Elizabeth Elnora, Roy, Barbara and Robert. The four oldest children were all born in Brockton, as were their parents. The Pratts lived at 537 Pleasant St., a home owned by Ed's maternal grandmother, Eva Simpson, who immigrated from Canada in 1900 with her late husband, Henry, a carpenter and their seven children.
Eva and Henry Simpson went on to raise fourteen children in the huge, New England clapboard house next door at 535 Pleasant St., the Simpson family homestead for more than 50 years. Ed's mother, Bertha, was their oldest daughter and "Nana Simpson" was the matriarch for the Pratt kids and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins that mostly stayed in Brockton to raise their own families. Ed went to public schools in Brockton and Newport, RI, after the family moved to Rhode Island when his father took a machinist job at the Naval Torpedo Station. Ed graduated from Rogers High School, Class of '36, shortly after his family moved to Newport.
After high school, Ed drove a lumber truck. Younger brother, Roy, who graduated from Rogers in '39, took a job delivering ice. By the time the US entered World War II, Ed was working with his father at the at the Naval Torpedo Station as a journeyman mechanic. Roy quit his job at the New England Power Co. and joined the Navy. He was accepted as a naval aviation cadet in 1943 and after nine months of training, in February 1944 he received his commission as a second lieutenant and naval aviator in the Marine Corps, flying the FG-1 Corsair fighter.
On October 9, 1943, Ed married the love of his life, Helen Wetmore, at St. Paul's United Methodist Church on Marlborough St., in Newport. The Rev. Harvey K. Mousley married the couple who were joined by their sizeable extended families of aunts, uncles and cousins and other wellwishers. Ed and Helen's first child, a girl, was born in September 1944, shortly before her uncle and godfather, 2nd Lt. Roy Pratt, shipped overseas to join the war in the Pacific.
Tragedy struck the family several months later, when they received notice in April 1945 that Roy was missing in action after being forced to ditch his Corsair while on an escort mission of a C-47 during "Operation Victor", the amphibious landings to drive the Japanese from the Philippines. Later that year, almost a year to the day after their daughter was born, Ed and Helen welcomed the birth of their son.
Ed advanced in his machinist work and was accepted to the US Merchant Marine Officer’s School at Ft. Trumbull in New London, CT. He was commissioned an ensign in the US Maritime Service (USMS) in January 1946 and graduated with honors in electrical engineering. Settling in Middletown, RI, both Helen and Ed worked for a time at the Naval Torpedo Factory. From 1946 to 1951, Ed worked as a dental lab technician in Newport. Their later careers took them to other cities: Louisville, KY, Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA and Baltimore, MD.
At the end of the school year in 1954, the family moved to Louisville, where Ed had moved alone several months earlier to accept a civil service job at the Naval Ordnance Station as an industrial engineer, where he worked for the next fifteen years. He received a certificate in mechanical technology from the Speed Scientific Technical Institute at the University of Louisville. While Helen and Ed were living in Louisville raising their children, Helen's, Amalia Wetmore, moved from Rhode Island to live with them. She passed away in 1966 at the age of 89.
In 1965, Ed obtained his license as an industrial engineer from the State of Kentucky. In the late 1960s, with their children grown, Charles and Helen moved to Norfolk, VA, where he worked for two years as an industrial engineer at the Naval Base, leaving that job to work at Portsmouth for a short time, before taking a job at the Coast Guard Shipyard in Baltimore, where he was head of the Industrial Engineering Division.
Wherever the family moved, Helen also worked. She was a secretary at Newport Gas & Light Co, a church secretary and a medical secretary at the Child Guidance Clinic in Louisville, an engineering draftsman at the Naval Ordnance Station there and a secretary and blue print reader at Ocean Techniques Inc. in Baltimore.
Ed and Helen Pratt moved back to Middletown, RI in 1977 when they both retired. Charles was active for many years in the Boy Scouts, was a lay leader on the board of stewards at the Beuchel United Methodist Church in Louisville, a member of St. Paul Lodge of Masons, Deblois Council of Rhode Island #5, and a member of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers. For years, both Charles and Helen volunteered with the Literary Volunteers of America in Newport County, where they were English instructors, led students on trips to places like Plymouth Rock, and opened their home to student of English as a second language for practical conversational English experiences.
The Pratts also loved traveling and made trips to Alaska, Europe, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and throughout the United States. In the summer of 1965, Helen and the two children spent several weeks in her mother's native Finland, meeting relatives there and enjoying the food and culture. When Ed and Helen reached their milestone Golden Wedding Anniversary in October 1993, their children threw an anniversary party for them at the Officers' Club, Naval Education and Training Center in Newport, where their many friends and relatives from both sides of the family came to congratulate and celebrate with them.
Charles passed away in 1996 at the age of 78. He was survived by Helen, his children, two grandchildren, brother and two sisters, and many, many cousins.
Eva and Henry Simpson went on to raise fourteen children in the huge, New England clapboard house next door at 535 Pleasant St., the Simpson family homestead for more than 50 years. Ed's mother, Bertha, was their oldest daughter and "Nana Simpson" was the matriarch for the Pratt kids and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins that mostly stayed in Brockton to raise their own families. Ed went to public schools in Brockton and Newport, RI, after the family moved to Rhode Island when his father took a machinist job at the Naval Torpedo Station. Ed graduated from Rogers High School, Class of '36, shortly after his family moved to Newport.
After high school, Ed drove a lumber truck. Younger brother, Roy, who graduated from Rogers in '39, took a job delivering ice. By the time the US entered World War II, Ed was working with his father at the at the Naval Torpedo Station as a journeyman mechanic. Roy quit his job at the New England Power Co. and joined the Navy. He was accepted as a naval aviation cadet in 1943 and after nine months of training, in February 1944 he received his commission as a second lieutenant and naval aviator in the Marine Corps, flying the FG-1 Corsair fighter.
On October 9, 1943, Ed married the love of his life, Helen Wetmore, at St. Paul's United Methodist Church on Marlborough St., in Newport. The Rev. Harvey K. Mousley married the couple who were joined by their sizeable extended families of aunts, uncles and cousins and other wellwishers. Ed and Helen's first child, a girl, was born in September 1944, shortly before her uncle and godfather, 2nd Lt. Roy Pratt, shipped overseas to join the war in the Pacific.
Tragedy struck the family several months later, when they received notice in April 1945 that Roy was missing in action after being forced to ditch his Corsair while on an escort mission of a C-47 during "Operation Victor", the amphibious landings to drive the Japanese from the Philippines. Later that year, almost a year to the day after their daughter was born, Ed and Helen welcomed the birth of their son.
Ed advanced in his machinist work and was accepted to the US Merchant Marine Officer’s School at Ft. Trumbull in New London, CT. He was commissioned an ensign in the US Maritime Service (USMS) in January 1946 and graduated with honors in electrical engineering. Settling in Middletown, RI, both Helen and Ed worked for a time at the Naval Torpedo Factory. From 1946 to 1951, Ed worked as a dental lab technician in Newport. Their later careers took them to other cities: Louisville, KY, Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA and Baltimore, MD.
At the end of the school year in 1954, the family moved to Louisville, where Ed had moved alone several months earlier to accept a civil service job at the Naval Ordnance Station as an industrial engineer, where he worked for the next fifteen years. He received a certificate in mechanical technology from the Speed Scientific Technical Institute at the University of Louisville. While Helen and Ed were living in Louisville raising their children, Helen's, Amalia Wetmore, moved from Rhode Island to live with them. She passed away in 1966 at the age of 89.
In 1965, Ed obtained his license as an industrial engineer from the State of Kentucky. In the late 1960s, with their children grown, Charles and Helen moved to Norfolk, VA, where he worked for two years as an industrial engineer at the Naval Base, leaving that job to work at Portsmouth for a short time, before taking a job at the Coast Guard Shipyard in Baltimore, where he was head of the Industrial Engineering Division.
Wherever the family moved, Helen also worked. She was a secretary at Newport Gas & Light Co, a church secretary and a medical secretary at the Child Guidance Clinic in Louisville, an engineering draftsman at the Naval Ordnance Station there and a secretary and blue print reader at Ocean Techniques Inc. in Baltimore.
Ed and Helen Pratt moved back to Middletown, RI in 1977 when they both retired. Charles was active for many years in the Boy Scouts, was a lay leader on the board of stewards at the Beuchel United Methodist Church in Louisville, a member of St. Paul Lodge of Masons, Deblois Council of Rhode Island #5, and a member of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers. For years, both Charles and Helen volunteered with the Literary Volunteers of America in Newport County, where they were English instructors, led students on trips to places like Plymouth Rock, and opened their home to student of English as a second language for practical conversational English experiences.
The Pratts also loved traveling and made trips to Alaska, Europe, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and throughout the United States. In the summer of 1965, Helen and the two children spent several weeks in her mother's native Finland, meeting relatives there and enjoying the food and culture. When Ed and Helen reached their milestone Golden Wedding Anniversary in October 1993, their children threw an anniversary party for them at the Officers' Club, Naval Education and Training Center in Newport, where their many friends and relatives from both sides of the family came to congratulate and celebrate with them.
Charles passed away in 1996 at the age of 78. He was survived by Helen, his children, two grandchildren, brother and two sisters, and many, many cousins.
Charles Edward Pratt, known to family and friends as "Ed" was born in Brockton, MA, the oldest of Charles Henry and Bertha Simpson Pratt’s five children. His brothers and sisters were Elizabeth Elnora, Roy, Barbara and Robert. The four oldest children were all born in Brockton, as were their parents. The Pratts lived at 537 Pleasant St., a home owned by Ed's maternal grandmother, Eva Simpson, who immigrated from Canada in 1900 with her late husband, Henry, a carpenter and their seven children.
Eva and Henry Simpson went on to raise fourteen children in the huge, New England clapboard house next door at 535 Pleasant St., the Simpson family homestead for more than 50 years. Ed's mother, Bertha, was their oldest daughter and "Nana Simpson" was the matriarch for the Pratt kids and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins that mostly stayed in Brockton to raise their own families. Ed went to public schools in Brockton and Newport, RI, after the family moved to Rhode Island when his father took a machinist job at the Naval Torpedo Station. Ed graduated from Rogers High School, Class of '36, shortly after his family moved to Newport.
After high school, Ed drove a lumber truck. Younger brother, Roy, who graduated from Rogers in '39, took a job delivering ice. By the time the US entered World War II, Ed was working with his father at the at the Naval Torpedo Station as a journeyman mechanic. Roy quit his job at the New England Power Co. and joined the Navy. He was accepted as a naval aviation cadet in 1943 and after nine months of training, in February 1944 he received his commission as a second lieutenant and naval aviator in the Marine Corps, flying the FG-1 Corsair fighter.
On October 9, 1943, Ed married the love of his life, Helen Wetmore, at St. Paul's United Methodist Church on Marlborough St., in Newport. The Rev. Harvey K. Mousley married the couple who were joined by their sizeable extended families of aunts, uncles and cousins and other wellwishers. Ed and Helen's first child, a girl, was born in September 1944, shortly before her uncle and godfather, 2nd Lt. Roy Pratt, shipped overseas to join the war in the Pacific.
Tragedy struck the family several months later, when they received notice in April 1945 that Roy was missing in action after being forced to ditch his Corsair while on an escort mission of a C-47 during "Operation Victor", the amphibious landings to drive the Japanese from the Philippines. Later that year, almost a year to the day after their daughter was born, Ed and Helen welcomed the birth of their son.
Ed advanced in his machinist work and was accepted to the US Merchant Marine Officer’s School at Ft. Trumbull in New London, CT. He was commissioned an ensign in the US Maritime Service (USMS) in January 1946 and graduated with honors in electrical engineering. Settling in Middletown, RI, both Helen and Ed worked for a time at the Naval Torpedo Factory. From 1946 to 1951, Ed worked as a dental lab technician in Newport. Their later careers took them to other cities: Louisville, KY, Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA and Baltimore, MD.
At the end of the school year in 1954, the family moved to Louisville, where Ed had moved alone several months earlier to accept a civil service job at the Naval Ordnance Station as an industrial engineer, where he worked for the next fifteen years. He received a certificate in mechanical technology from the Speed Scientific Technical Institute at the University of Louisville. While Helen and Ed were living in Louisville raising their children, Helen's, Amalia Wetmore, moved from Rhode Island to live with them. She passed away in 1966 at the age of 89.
In 1965, Ed obtained his license as an industrial engineer from the State of Kentucky. In the late 1960s, with their children grown, Charles and Helen moved to Norfolk, VA, where he worked for two years as an industrial engineer at the Naval Base, leaving that job to work at Portsmouth for a short time, before taking a job at the Coast Guard Shipyard in Baltimore, where he was head of the Industrial Engineering Division.
Wherever the family moved, Helen also worked. She was a secretary at Newport Gas & Light Co, a church secretary and a medical secretary at the Child Guidance Clinic in Louisville, an engineering draftsman at the Naval Ordnance Station there and a secretary and blue print reader at Ocean Techniques Inc. in Baltimore.
Ed and Helen Pratt moved back to Middletown, RI in 1977 when they both retired. Charles was active for many years in the Boy Scouts, was a lay leader on the board of stewards at the Beuchel United Methodist Church in Louisville, a member of St. Paul Lodge of Masons, Deblois Council of Rhode Island #5, and a member of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers. For years, both Charles and Helen volunteered with the Literary Volunteers of America in Newport County, where they were English instructors, led students on trips to places like Plymouth Rock, and opened their home to student of English as a second language for practical conversational English experiences.
The Pratts also loved traveling and made trips to Alaska, Europe, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and throughout the United States. In the summer of 1965, Helen and the two children spent several weeks in her mother's native Finland, meeting relatives there and enjoying the food and culture. When Ed and Helen reached their milestone Golden Wedding Anniversary in October 1993, their children threw an anniversary party for them at the Officers' Club, Naval Education and Training Center in Newport, where their many friends and relatives from both sides of the family came to congratulate and celebrate with them.
Charles passed away in 1996 at the age of 78. He was survived by Helen, his children, two grandchildren, brother and two sisters, and many, many cousins.
Eva and Henry Simpson went on to raise fourteen children in the huge, New England clapboard house next door at 535 Pleasant St., the Simpson family homestead for more than 50 years. Ed's mother, Bertha, was their oldest daughter and "Nana Simpson" was the matriarch for the Pratt kids and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins that mostly stayed in Brockton to raise their own families. Ed went to public schools in Brockton and Newport, RI, after the family moved to Rhode Island when his father took a machinist job at the Naval Torpedo Station. Ed graduated from Rogers High School, Class of '36, shortly after his family moved to Newport.
After high school, Ed drove a lumber truck. Younger brother, Roy, who graduated from Rogers in '39, took a job delivering ice. By the time the US entered World War II, Ed was working with his father at the at the Naval Torpedo Station as a journeyman mechanic. Roy quit his job at the New England Power Co. and joined the Navy. He was accepted as a naval aviation cadet in 1943 and after nine months of training, in February 1944 he received his commission as a second lieutenant and naval aviator in the Marine Corps, flying the FG-1 Corsair fighter.
On October 9, 1943, Ed married the love of his life, Helen Wetmore, at St. Paul's United Methodist Church on Marlborough St., in Newport. The Rev. Harvey K. Mousley married the couple who were joined by their sizeable extended families of aunts, uncles and cousins and other wellwishers. Ed and Helen's first child, a girl, was born in September 1944, shortly before her uncle and godfather, 2nd Lt. Roy Pratt, shipped overseas to join the war in the Pacific.
Tragedy struck the family several months later, when they received notice in April 1945 that Roy was missing in action after being forced to ditch his Corsair while on an escort mission of a C-47 during "Operation Victor", the amphibious landings to drive the Japanese from the Philippines. Later that year, almost a year to the day after their daughter was born, Ed and Helen welcomed the birth of their son.
Ed advanced in his machinist work and was accepted to the US Merchant Marine Officer’s School at Ft. Trumbull in New London, CT. He was commissioned an ensign in the US Maritime Service (USMS) in January 1946 and graduated with honors in electrical engineering. Settling in Middletown, RI, both Helen and Ed worked for a time at the Naval Torpedo Factory. From 1946 to 1951, Ed worked as a dental lab technician in Newport. Their later careers took them to other cities: Louisville, KY, Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA and Baltimore, MD.
At the end of the school year in 1954, the family moved to Louisville, where Ed had moved alone several months earlier to accept a civil service job at the Naval Ordnance Station as an industrial engineer, where he worked for the next fifteen years. He received a certificate in mechanical technology from the Speed Scientific Technical Institute at the University of Louisville. While Helen and Ed were living in Louisville raising their children, Helen's, Amalia Wetmore, moved from Rhode Island to live with them. She passed away in 1966 at the age of 89.
In 1965, Ed obtained his license as an industrial engineer from the State of Kentucky. In the late 1960s, with their children grown, Charles and Helen moved to Norfolk, VA, where he worked for two years as an industrial engineer at the Naval Base, leaving that job to work at Portsmouth for a short time, before taking a job at the Coast Guard Shipyard in Baltimore, where he was head of the Industrial Engineering Division.
Wherever the family moved, Helen also worked. She was a secretary at Newport Gas & Light Co, a church secretary and a medical secretary at the Child Guidance Clinic in Louisville, an engineering draftsman at the Naval Ordnance Station there and a secretary and blue print reader at Ocean Techniques Inc. in Baltimore.
Ed and Helen Pratt moved back to Middletown, RI in 1977 when they both retired. Charles was active for many years in the Boy Scouts, was a lay leader on the board of stewards at the Beuchel United Methodist Church in Louisville, a member of St. Paul Lodge of Masons, Deblois Council of Rhode Island #5, and a member of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers. For years, both Charles and Helen volunteered with the Literary Volunteers of America in Newport County, where they were English instructors, led students on trips to places like Plymouth Rock, and opened their home to student of English as a second language for practical conversational English experiences.
The Pratts also loved traveling and made trips to Alaska, Europe, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and throughout the United States. In the summer of 1965, Helen and the two children spent several weeks in her mother's native Finland, meeting relatives there and enjoying the food and culture. When Ed and Helen reached their milestone Golden Wedding Anniversary in October 1993, their children threw an anniversary party for them at the Officers' Club, Naval Education and Training Center in Newport, where their many friends and relatives from both sides of the family came to congratulate and celebrate with them.
Charles passed away in 1996 at the age of 78. He was survived by Helen, his children, two grandchildren, brother and two sisters, and many, many cousins.
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