Obituary of John Prescott Hoyt Jr.

John Prescott Hoyt, Jr. of Milton, VT age 96, died August 2, 2017 of cancer at the VNA Respite House.
Born May 30, 1921 in Chelsea, MA, he was the son of Elsie Pearl Ralph and John P. Hoyt.  He obtained a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering at UVM in January of 1943 after which time he joined the US Navy.  His first assignment was in the South Pacific Aviation Repair Unit on Guadalcanal followed by a stateside assignment to work on the pre-commissioning of the Aircraft Carrier Leyte in WWII. 
He married, UVM Senior Margaret "Peggie" Waterman on Dec. 21, 1947 and they raised four wonderful children John (Jay) P. III, deceased 3/25/2016; Mark Owen, deceased 1/16/1995; Margo Alice Breen of Milton, VT; and Christopher Lindsay Hoyt and his wife, Kelly Mullins of Breckenridge, CO.
He was the proud grandfather of Marsha Sue (Daughter of Mark) and her husband Kevin McCombie, of Fort Myers, FL; Lindsay Alice Hoyt of Chapel Hill, NC and Megan Elyssa Breen (Daughters of Margo) and boyfriend Andrew Nevins of Castleton, VT. He also leaves his first great grandchild Sawyer Owen McCombie.
In 1954 the family moved from New Britain, CT to VT, following the death of John Sr. to be near Cold Spring Camp in Milton. Previous to the move, John worked as a sales engineer at the N.B. Machine Co. in New Britain, CT; once in VT he worked as a designer for Metrogram Scales in Winooski; Chief Engineer for McGraw Edison Power Tools; Project Engineer on the Gatling guns (7.62mm & 30mm) at GE and finally as a Manager for GE Aircraft Weapon Systems Burlington, retiring in 1987.
While raising his family and pursuing his career, John also took on the responsibility of maintaining the eight cottages on the shores of Cold Spring Camp for his mother, Pearl Hoyt, from 1952 to 1969 and then continued  to operate the camp until 1995 with co-owner and wife, Peggie.
In 1994 the Hoyts donated 114 Acres of Eagle Mt. land to the Lake Champlain Land Trust (LCLT) for conservation and transfer to the Town of Milton. John was a member of the Board of Directors of LCLT for six years, persuading the Vermont Electric Co-Op to sell 112 adjoining acres to LCLT in 1995 for the Eagle Mt. Natural Area, thus gifting to the Town a 226 Acre Park on undeveloped scenic land close to the shore of Lake Champlain.
John was an active member of Seneca Lodge #40 Masons for 70 years, serving once as Master.  He also served as a Worthy Patron for three years in the Chittenden Chapter #59, Order of the Eastern Star.
John was a Committee Chairman of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Troop 3 in Burlington and had the privilege of seeing his 3 sons earn the rank of Eagle Scout while his daughter, Margo, served as the co-leader of the Sea Explorers, Post #603. He was awarded the Silver Beaver Award by the BSA for his work with the Boy Scouts. He was also awarded the BSA Life Saving Award for a sail boating mishap on the Luther Bridgman's Pinky Schooner; this boat was subsequently given to The Sea Explorers Post #603.
John served on a number of boards including: 4H Club; Lake Champlain Yacht Club (LCYC), Malletts Bay Boat Club (MBBC), St. Andrews Society of VT; Lake Champlain Land Trust; Milton Select Board; and Milton Family Community Center.  He was instrumental in advancing several major projects while serving on these boards.
Known as "Bud Hoyt," during his college years, John served as Captain of the UVM X-Country team in '42 and as a freshman in '39. He earned a private pilot's license in 1940 in the Civilian Pilots Training Program at UVM. He was a member of the UVM Ski Team, under coach Ruch. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and sailboat racing on his sailboat, the Princess, boat building, flying and model airplane building.
John was greatly loved by his family and friends and his presence and generous spirit will be greatly missed.
Memorial contributions in John's memory may be made to the So Hero Congregational Church, P.O. Box 99, So. Hero, VT 05458 or to the Milton Community Center, P.O. Box 619, Milton, VT 05468.

Visiting hours will be held on Thursday August 24, 2017 from 4-7pm in the Minor Funeral and Cremation Center with an Eastern Star and Masonic Service.
Burial will be on Friday August 25, 2017 at 10:30 am in the Milton Village Cemetery followed by a luncheon at the Masonic Hall in Milton.
A Funeral Service will be on Friday August 25, 2017 at 2pm. in the So. Hero Congregational Church, with a reception following.