Vincent J. Guest, 80, a former Philadelphia police officer and Democratic committeeman, died of lung cancer Tuesday at his home in the Mayfair section of the city.

Mr. Guest attended Northeast High School and, saying he was a year older than he was, enlisted in the Army. He served from 1946 to 1948 as a message center clerk during the occupation of Italy.

Mr. Guest was appointed a Philadelphia police officer in September 1953 and resigned in May 1962, a Police Department spokeswoman said.

From 1962 to 1966, he was a state narcotics officer, his son Vincent said.

In the late 1960s, his son said, Mr. Guest owned a Frankford-Quaker grocery store at Jackson and Marple Streets in Holmesburg, and in the 1970s was a dispatcher and operations manager for two trucking firms.

In the early 1990s, Mr. Guest again worked for the state, retiring as an administrative officer at the Southeastern Veterans Center, a retirement home, in Spring City, Chester County.

From 1986 through 2002, Mr. Guest was a Democratic committeeman in the 22d Division of the 65th Ward and since 2002 was a judge of elections there.

At St. Bernard Church in Holmesburg, Mr. Guest was a lector from 1980 through 1995 and a Eucharistic minister from 1980 until last year.

In retirement, his son said, Mr. Guest often golfed at a public course in Torresdale, where he had five holes-in-one.

Besides his son Vincent, Mr. Guest is survived by his wife of 58 years, Peggy; sons John, Dennis, and Thomas; daughter Margaret DeShan; and 13 grandchildren.

A viewing was set from 6 to 9 p.m. today and after 9 a.m. tomorrow at St. Bernard Church, 7341 Cottage St., where a Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery, Bensalem.