Basil G. Howard, who served during World War II in the British Merchant Marine and was later an executive with J.H. Filbert Co., died Sept. 2 from cancer at Stella Maris Hospice. The Mays Chapel resident was 102.

Basil George Howard, son of Charles James Howard, a chief accountant, and Maud Bessie Sturgeon, a bookkeeper, was born and raised in Ealing, England, where he graduated from high school.

“He was 19 and in college when he was conscripted into the Merchant Navy during World War II,” said his daughter, Leslie Grimes, of Timonium.

Mr. Howard served as an officer aboard a tanker that had “been hit multiple times by torpedoes, requiring repairs at various ports around the world,” Mrs. Grimes said.

Discharged in 1945, his decorations included the Star of the Atlantic, Star of Africa, Star of Italy and the Victory Day Star.

His service during the war brought him in contact with other servicemen who talked about the opportunities available in the United States, which piqued his interest.

In 1948, he married Olive Doreen Lee, and three years later, after having worked for his father, he and his wife emigrated to Baltimore and settled into a home on Ferndale Avenue in Northwest Baltimore.

In 1951, he began working in the accounting department of Crosse & Blackwell on Eastern Avenue, a manufacturer of condiments.

In 1961, Mr. Howard joined J.H. Filbert Co. in Southwest Baltimore, which produced margarine and butter substitute products, as a project manager, and rose to the position of executive vice president.

It was Mr. Howard who spearheaded the development and marketing of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter,” a margarine product.

“He created that slogan, and now it’s a national brand that is available in grocery stores everywhere,” his daughter said.

In 1979, he was named chairman of the board of the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers.

He retired in 1987.

An avid tennis player, Mr. Howard was a longtime member of the Hillendale Country Club, where he continued playing two or three times a week until he was 87.

His daughter said her father did not follow any special regimen that earned him centenarian status.

“He served on the landscaping committee for Mays Chapel,” she said, “and drove his car until he was 101.”

He enjoyed traveling, spending summers in Ocean City and taking an annual trip to England.

He was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Cedarcroft for more than 60 years, where he had been a vestryman and a Sunday school teacher.

Plans for a celebration of life service are incomplete.

In addition to his wife of 76 years and daughter, he is survived by a son, Peter Howard, of Silverthorne, Colorado; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Another son, Russell Lee Howard, died in 2002.