Dillard E. Reid, 81, handled mail for close to 50 years

Dillard Eric Reid, 81, of East Mount Airy, a mail handler for the Reading Railroad before working for the Postal Service for 33 years, died of complications following a stroke Friday at Albert Einstein Medical Center.

Born in 1927, the eldest of three children, Mr. Reid grew up in East Germantown. He graduated in 1945 from Simon Gratz High School, where he lettered in varsity football, baseball and basketball. He played baseball for the Negro Leagues for several years. At 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, Mr. Reid was an athlete until shortly before his death.

Mr. Reid worked for the Reading Railroad handling mail and baggage for 15 years before becoming a mail handler at the 30th Street Post Office. He retired from the Green Street Post Office in 1994 after 33 years of service.

Mr. Reid married Florida Peterson, and they had a son, Dillard, before the marriage ended in divorce.

He married Mary F. Jones in 1958, and they raised two daughters and a son in East Mount Airy.

"My father was a sweetheart, but he scared the boys my sister and I dated," said daughter Frances Reid Hasty. "He was a man of respect, order and no nonsense. He provided for his family and was supportive and positive."

Mr. Reid enjoyed deep-sea fishing along the East Coast and lake fishing in North Carolina. "He caught sea bass, trout, perch and wide-mouth bass. I cooked them," his wife said. "He was a loving, affectionate person."

For more than 70 years, Mr. Reid was a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church, where he was a sexton for 25 years and on the board of trustees.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Reid is survived by another daughter, Sylvia Reid Motley; a son, Gregory; four grandchildren; one great-grandson; one brother; and one sister. His son Dillard Reid Peterson predeceased him.

Friends may visit at 9 a.m. tomorrow at Mount Zion Baptist Church of Germantown, 41 W. Rittenhouse St. A funeral will follow at 11. Burial will be in Forest Hills Cemetery, 101 Byberry Rd.

Donations may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, 30 E. 33d St., New York, N.Y. 10016.