The long time executive director of CentrePeace in Bellefonte has died. Thom Brewster is remembered as a leader in the organization’s work to rehabilitate inmates in Centre County.
Brewster started volunteering at CentrePeace in 1998. He taught non-violent conflict resolution skills to inmates at the State Correctional Institutions at Rockview and Benner Township and at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
In an interview with WPSU in 2012, Brewster said teaching inmates how to restore furniture, among other things, gives them a real chance at successfully reentering society.
“I can only describe that as a God thing,” he said. “Because it sounds crazy, it looks crazy, but I knew long ago as a volunteer, when I first walked on the block at SCI Rockview, that there was something special about these individuals. My heart felt it and it never went away. And I was absolutely certain that this was the path that God wanted me to take.”
Brewster passed away last Friday at the age of 63.
CentrePeace posted on Facebook, saying the organization “reached new heights” under his leadership. His funeral will be Tuesday morning at Calvary Harvest Fields church in Boalsburg.
