William Wertz, 63, Phila. Fed employee

William M. Wertz, 63, of Mount Ephraim, a former research analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, died of congestive heart failure Saturday, April 25, at home.

Born in Philadelphia, he grew up in the Feltonville neighborhood and graduated in 1970 from Cardinal Dougherty High School, where he was a drummer in the marching band.

Mr. Wertz was a deliveryman for the U.S. Postal Service in Yardley in the 1970s before beginning his career with the Federal Reserve in 1979.

Before retiring in the late 2000s, his wife said, Mr. Wertz's work as a research analyst focused on fraud investigations.

Anthony Mezzanotte, a childhood friend who is an assistant manager at a Home Depot store in Secaucus, N.J., said Mr. Wertz did not investigate personal fraud.

"He did a lot of balancing between banks," and when the accounts didn't balance, "they used to investigate where the money went."

Mezzanotte had known Mr. Wertz since they were 8-year-old classmates at the school of St. Ambrose Church in Northeast Philadelphia. He was best man at Mr. Wertz's wedding, and Mr. Wertz was best man at his two weddings.

"An all-around good guy," he said.

Mr. Wertz was a member of the St. Ambrose Church choir and a distributor of Communion there before moving to Mount Ephraim in 1993, where he was a choir member at Sacred Heart Church in the 1990s and 2000s.

Besides his wife of 41 years, Diane, Mr. Wertz is survived by daughter Jennifer Berardi, a brother, and two grandchildren.

A viewing was set from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, and 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 30, at the Mahaffey-Milano Funeral Home, 11 E. Kings Highway, Mount Ephraim.

A 10 a.m. Funeral Mass was set for St. Joachim Parish, 601 W. Browning Rd., Bellmawr, with entombment in New St. Mary's Mausoleum, Bellmawr.

Donations may be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105, or https://apps.stjude.org.

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