Banning Repplier, of Spruce Head, Me., and Key Largo, Fla., died August 30 at Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport, Me., with his wife Libby by his side. He was 90.

Born in Boston, on July 3, 1917, he was the son of Francis Ewing and Dorothy Banning Repplier.

He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1939 and served his country in World War II as a captain in the U.S. Army. He earned a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Presidential Citation. He was most proud of his participation in the Los Banos prisoner-of-war rescue mission in the Philippines as a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne Division, memorialized in the PBS film, Angels at Dawn.

Rep, as he was known, worked in the field of public relations and advertising for most of his professional life. Beginning at Curtiss Wright Corporation in New Jersey, he moved to the Lionel Corporation in New York and the A.C. Gilbert Company in New Haven, Conn.

In 1958, he formed his own company, Banning Repplier Advertising Agency. He was also vice president and advertising director of The First New Haven National Bank.

Rep and his wife Libby also owned The Lambert’s Cove Country Inn on the Vineyard for 23 years. The inn’s roots go back to the late 1790s, when it was then part of a working farm. The Reppliers sold the property in early 2005.

During his many years in New Haven, Rep was very active in the community and served on numerous boards. He also stayed involved with his alma mater, Wesleyan University, serving as alumni fund chairman and on other alumni committees. He recently spoke at Wesleyan, recounting his experiences as a World War II veteran.

He was a member of the Ocean Reef Club, the Angler’s Club and the Racquet Club in Key Largo and the Iron City Fishing Club in Ontario, Canada. He was also a member of the General Society of Colonial Wars and the Society of the Cincinnati.

As a young child, Rep first came to Spruce Head with his mother to visit her twin sister, his Aunt Helen, and Uncle Jimmy Wilson who was the summer minister for the First Universalist Church in Rockland.

This led to a lifelong love of Spruce Head. He and Libby found peace and contentment as they settled there for longer and longer summer seasons.

Rep was an avid tennis player and enthusiast and was still playing in his late eighties. At 86, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of making another parachute jump, his first since World War II.

He was also a lifelong reader of biography and history and was a gifted writer and eloquent speaker. He wrote an autobiography of his college and military years for his children and grandchildren. Rep was an alert and engaging person with a ready wit.

Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Libby; his four children, Banning Repplier Jr. of Brooklyn, N.Y., Susan Obercian of Tewksbury, N.J., Kristin Bodkin and her husband Bill, of Setauket, N.Y., and Peter Repplier and his wife Maggie of New York city; three stepchildren, Elizabeth Macfarlane and her partner Cliff Adams of Bristol, Vt., Nancy Scott and her husband Tim of Rockport, Me., and Bruce Macfarlane of Key Largo, Fla.; his former wife, Marjorie Hemingway of New Haven, Conn.; three nieces; 10 grandchildren; and many good friends, neighbors and extended family, 80 of whom attended his surprise 90th birthday party the month before he died.

He was predeceased by his brother Ewing Repplier of Spruce Head, Me., and his son-in-law Robert Obercian.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family wishes to thank the dedicated professionals of Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care and Hospice, Penobscot Bay Medical Center and Quarry Hill Rehabilitation for their care of him in his last weeks. Special thanks go to Mike Will, Ed Courtenay, Chuckie Chipman and Audrey McGlashan.