Joseph Dewechter, 89, old-school mail carrier

Joseph A. Dewechter, a mail carrier in Gloucester City from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s, "was an old-time carrier that everybody loved," said Joseph Townsend, a mailman there these days.

"Joe never wore shorts," as is the style for many carriers. "He wore the long pants through the summer, winter."

And, Townsend said, Mr. Dewechter used an old leather bag, "the kind that went out with the horses."

Townsend laughed and added: "The last of the Mohicans."

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Mr. Dewechter, 89, of Gloucester City, died of cardiac arrest at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

Born in Gloucester City, Mr. Dewechter, known as "Dewey," graduated from Gloucester Catholic High School in 1942 and was an Army infantryman from 1943 to 1946 in the South Pacific, earning a Philippines Liberation ribbon.

"He worked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for a year before joining the Post Office," his daughter, Catherine Hughes, said.

"He was a letter carrier that walked the streets" for most of his career, she said. "He was part of people's lives."

Hughes recalled her father's saying that on his route, "some of the widows were waiting for a pension or a Social Security check, because they lived from check to check."

And so, she said, "he would make sure the checks were delivered into their hands."

For about 20 years, she said, "he worked two jobs full-time," delivering newspapers in the late afternoon after he had completed his mailman's rounds.

"He had that other job to have enough money to send all five of us through Catholic school," she said of his five children.

Since retiring, he had attended daily Mass at St. Mary's Church in Gloucester City, where he was an usher at Sunday Masses.

Besides his daughter, Mr. Dewechter is survived by his wife of 61 years, Kathryn; sons Joseph E., Daniel, Patrick, and Robert; 10 grandsons; and a granddaughter.

A viewing was set from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at St. Mary's Church, 426 Monmouth St., Gloucester City, N.J. 08030, before an 11:30 a.m. Funeral Mass, with interment in New St. Mary's Cemetery, Bellmawr.

Donations may be sent to St. Mary's Church Special Fund at the above church address.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccannhealey.com.