Frederick Reel, civil engineer
Frederick T. Reel, 88, of Gibbstown, who retired in 1988 as a civil engineer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, died Thursday, July 28, at Power Back Rehabilitation in Moorestown from complications from a fall on his property.
Frederick T. Reel, 88, of Gibbstown, who retired in 1988 as a civil engineer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, died Thursday, July 28, at Power Back Rehabilitation in Moorestown from complications from a fall on his property.
Born in Woodbury, Mr. Reel was a 1946 graduate of Paulsboro High School and earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from what is now Widener University in 1950, a daughter, Sharon, said.
He was an officer with an Army engineering combat battalion in Korea in 1950 and 1951 and retired as an Army Reserve colonel.
During the Korean conflict, his Army unit was involved with "lots of demolition work" while also building temporary bridges across the Naktong River, he wrote in brief notes about his service.
After returning from Korea, Mr. Reel worked for a year or two for Sun Shipbuilding in Chester before beginning his Navy Yard career in the mid-1950s, his daughter said.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Reel was a member of the Greenwich Township School Board in Gibbstown.
"He fought to keep open the Broad Street School," his daughter said. Broad Street marks its 100th birthday this year.
Later in the 1990s, his daughter said, he was a member of the board of education for Guardian Angels Regional School, a Catholic institution that operates elementary schools in Gibbstown and Paulsboro.
Peg DiMeo met Mr. Reel in the 1980s, when he and her late husband, Edward, became friends.
"He was a wonderful man," DiMeo said. "He was very caring about me and his family and the people around him."
Besides his daughter, Mr. Reel is survived by a son, George; daughters Marianne Davies and Laura Plantz; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His wife, Mary Ann, died in 2008.
A viewing was set from 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, at St. Clare of Assisi Parish, 313 Memorial Ave., Gibbstown, before an 11:30 a.m. Funeral Mass there, with interment in Eglington Cemetery in Clarksboro.
Donations may be sent to the Guardian Angels district at gars-online.com.
Condolences may be offered to the family at landolfifuneralhome.com.
610-313-8134@WNaedele