Captain Edward W.V. Webster, USN (Retired), died peacefully on October 12, 2023, of natural causes. He was 94 years old. He spent his last several days in hospice and in the company of his immediate survivors: wife, Paula Massie Webster; daughter, Jessica Marley Webster; and son, Edward Christopher Webster. He was pre-deceased by a son, Patrick William Webster, in 2017.

Edward Webster grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he spent summers working dockside in local fish and lobster businesses. He attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on a Navy ROTC scholarship; upon graduation in 1952, he was commissioned as a naval officer, and so began a varied thirty-year career.

He earned his Naval Aviator Wings in 1955, having first served in the "Black Shoe Navy" as damage control and repair officer aboard a WW2-era Atlantic Fleet destroyer. Lieutenant JG Webster joined a Pacific Fleet fighter squadron and over the succeeding years flew with fighter, light attack, and training squadrons based in the Pacific, California and Florida. During this time, he became an instructor pilot in air-to-air gunnery, formation tactics and all-weather flight; and was selected as an air-to-air weapons evaluator of a new jet trainer.

In 1957, while stationed at Moffatt Field, California, he met Paula Massie. Their partnership of 66 years was characteristic of Navy couples, requiring frequent moves and sacrifices from both of them. Ed acknowledged the Naval Officers debt: the raising of their three children would not have been possible without Paula Massie Webster's understanding, patience and resourcefulness.

In 1962, then Lieutenant-Commander Webster completed the Operations Research curriculum at the US Naval Postgraduate School, at Monterey, California, gaining a specialty which would companion his career as an aviator.  He subsequently served on the faculty of the US Naval Academy and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, in Washington DC.

During the Vietnam conflict, Commander Webster returned to flying as the Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron 127, followed by orders as the Operations Officer of Carrier Air Wing 19, aboard the aircraft carriers USS Ticonderoga and Oriskany. He spent the remaining years of his career ashore—at one point, far from the ocean during his assignment to the Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

After promotion to the rank of Captain, Edward served as Executive Officer of the Naval Air Station at Albany, Georgia, the home of the Navy Reconnaissance Attack Air Wing. He later served as Deputy Commander of a newly created division responsible for data processing policy, and he was an architect, and the Commanding Officer, of the Navy Regional Automation Center, Washington DC, integrating software developments and operations across the US Navy. In this capacity, Captain Webster felt himself fortunate to work with computing pioneers of the day.

At the time of his retirement in 1982, he was attached to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Pentagon, heading a division responsible for the analysis of operations and military readiness. He would continue this work in a civilian capacity, developing automated planning systems for major combat commands, and as a consultant to the Air Force Electronics Systems Command.

Captain Webster's love of flying continued into his retirement; he flew for his own pleasure, and occasionally as an instructor for various Navy and Air Force aircraft. After he and his wife moved to Delaware in 1998, he flew as a civilian member of the Dover Air Force Base Flying Club.

A practicing Catholic all of his life, Captain Webster, became increasingly involved in Catholic charity and relief organizations, especially those supporting Catholic communities in the Near East. He was active in his local parish, serving as a communicant at St. Ann's Catholic Church, in Bethany Beach.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 AM on Friday, October 27, 2023 at St. Ann Catholic Church, 691 Garfield Parkway, Bethany Beach, DE 19930.

Captain Webster will be interred with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society (nacres.org/donate), or to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (https://cnewa.org/donate/).