Ex-Aide to President Of Postal Clerks Dies

William J. McGrath, 79, of 6623 Chestnut St., New Carrollton, Md., formerly of Dunmore and Scranton's Nativity Section, a clerk at the Scranton post office who became administrative aide to the president of Post Office Clerks, died Monday in Providence Hospital, Washington, D.C., after an illness.

His wife, the former Blanche O'Malley, a Scranton native, died in December 1973.

Mr. McGrath was the last surviving charter member of Scranton Local 101, United Federation of Postal Clerks, and was a past president of the local. In 1921 he was elected first president of the state Federation of Post Office Clerks, and served numerous terms as national vice president of the federation.

Mr. McGrath started to work at the Scranton Post Office as a clerk in 1919 and retired from postal service in 1960. He was secretary of the Scranton Central Labor Union for 26 years, and had been active in Lackawanna United Fund, now United Way, and Lackawanna Industrial Fund Enterprises.

A son of the late John T. and Catherine Sweeney McGrath, he lived in the Washington area after leaving here about 20 years ago,

Mr. McGrath was a member of St. Bernard's Church, Riverdale, Md.

Surviving are. four sons, John, Dunmore; William, Bladensburg, Md.; Gregory, Scranton. and Philip, Silver Spring, Md.; two daughters, Mrs. Francis Woodbridge, with whom he resided, and Mrs, William Brown, Santa Maria, Calif.; two sisters, Mrs. Lyman Russell, Mineola, N.Y., and Miss Elizabeth McGrath, New York City; a brother, Daniel, Mineola; 28 grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be from the Cusick Funeral Home, 217 Jefferson Ave., at a time to be announced. Interment, will be in Cathedral Cemetery.

The Times-Tribune • Tue, Feb 25, 1975 • Page 7 • (Scranton, Pennsylvania)