Lt. Col. Treasvant Andrew Feaster, III (Ret.)

Treas (his nickname) was born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 3, 1929, to Treasvant Feaster Jr. and Margaret Harkins Feaster. He graduated from Central High School in Louisville and earned his bachelor’s degree in History at the historically Black college Lincoln University, in Jefferson City, MO. Following his college graduation in 1951, Treas enlisted in the newly established US Air Force, and shortly thereafter gained his commission as a Second Lieutenant. He began his career as an intelligence officer, and his early roles included debriefing combat air crews in Korea; later, he trained to detect, disarm, and detonate explosive threats as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer.

During his more than 20 years in uniform, Treas was stationed in Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, England, and at bases across the USA, and he served in combat in Korea and Vietnam. In the early 1960's, he was among a group of more than a dozen African American officers reassigned to Air Force bases in the South to help desegregate those bases. Later, during the Vietnam conflict, he led mobile EOD teams conducting clandestine EOD missions inside enemy-held territory, including Laos. During his active-duty service, he attended nuclear weapons school and the Air University Squadron Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Treas retired after 23 years at the rank of Lt. Colonel; his military awards include the Bronze Star Medal, for engagement in operations against an opposing force while operating from Don Muang Air Base in Thailand.

During an overseas assignment in England, he met the love of his life, Alison B. Hewett, a nursing student in London; they married in her Jamaican ancestral home in 1960 and remained married until his passing.

After retiring from the US Air Force, Treas joined Northeast Utilities in Berlin, (now Eversource) as a recruiter for nuclear power engineers, eventually working 19 years as a manager in human resources, recruiting, and equal opportunity, before retiring for the second time.

Treas was an avid tennis player who continued to play until he was 79 years old; while in college, he was trained by Wimbledon champion Althea Gibson. Working in his large garden was one of his great passions, and he was also an active member of the Church of Incarnation, where he lectored and was a member of the Parish Council. Treas loved the New York Yankees and attended baseball games every year at Yankee Stadium; he also supported the UCONN women's basketball team and enjoyed homemade tacos and butter pecan ice cream.

Treas was preceded in death by his oldest brother, Charles Feaster, of Xenia, OH, who was an original World War II Tuskegee Airman; sister Gloria Feaster Hurt, of Ann Arbor, MI; and sister Linda Feaster Cottrell, of Florissant, MO.

Treas is survived by his wife of 62 years, Alison Feaster; son Paul Feaster, and his wife Miranca Van Duyse, of Clearwater, FL; daughter Rebecca Feaster-Pittman, and her husband, Navy Rear Admiral (Ret.) Hal Pittman of Hertford, NC; daughter Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Hilary Feaster, of Hertford, NC; and grandsons Evan Pittman and Cameron Feaster.

Family and friends are invited Tuesday, March 8, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. for visitation at the D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 9, at the Church of the Incarnation, 544 Prospect St, Wethersfield, 06109. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations can be made to the Military Child Education Coalition, https://www.militarychild.org/get-involved/donate in Memory of Treasvant Feaster III.

Treas will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors among many of his comrades in arms. To share a memory of Treas with his family, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com.