Article by Steve Weber

Eddie Reddy - Kings Park's Grocer!

By Denise Creighton - KingsPark.Patch.Com

Back in the 1930s, Kings Park was a small town with three grocery stores: Bohack's, A&P and Ralston's (in the same spot as the current Ralph's Ices). Behind Ralston's was a small apartment occupied by the store manager, his wife and their four children. Eddie Reddy was one of those children born into the grocery business.

Reddy went through the Kings Park School District. Throughout high school, Reddy worked in both Bohack's and Ralston's. He and his 28 classmates graduated in 1944. Upon graduation, he joined the Navy and traveled throughout the Pacific. His ship, an LSM307, transported Marines from Okinawa to Nagasaki. Reddy served for two years before returning to Kings Park.

After a short stint as a construction worker, Reddy was called back into the grocery industry by the manager at Bohack's. He was asked to help run a store which had opened in East Northport, where he remained for 17 years. During that time, he met his future wife Ruth through a mutual friend Pat Kirby. The two went on a first date with Pat Kirby and his future wife to a softball game. The two were married in 1950.
 

In 1963, Reddy bought a small building which he transformed into Indian Head Deli in the same place where Andersen Catering is now. Many longtime residents simply knew it as Eddie Reddy's. According to Reddy, life at the deli was 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

It was seven years before Reddy was able to take any time off. Despite the grueling schedule, Reddy loved the deli world. He looked forward to his daily morning crowd of locals Cal Cunningham, Wally Jenkins, Bob Wertz and Buster Toner who would meet every morning and discuss local goings-on over coffee. Although others would sometimes stop in and join the group for a morning sessions, the foursome was a constant for years.

As a storeowner, Reddy was known as a kind man who was always willing to extend credit to those in need. If you couldn't afford groceries until payday, Reddy allowed his customers to write a check and place a big "X" over the date so that he knew not to cash it. When the money came in, Reddy would get paid.

The Reddy clan began to grow. Ruth and Ed had six children: Ed, Susan, Ellen, Billy, Marianne and Rob. As the boys grew older, they worked many hours in the deli beside their dad. The memories of his time spent in the deli with his sons and his friends are many.

"I do miss the people," says Reddy. "Now I will be in town or at church and I get to see these grown men and women who used to come into the deli as kids raising kids of their own. I really enjoy that."

In 1988, Reddy retired from the deli and now spends much his time working in his yard and spending time with his family, which now includes 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Reddy says he loves Kings Park for many reasons: its proximity to the water, his home, his church and his nice neighbors. He and his wife enjoy walking the Sunken Meadow boardwalk and seeing old friends.

Four of the Reddy children went into education: Ed, Susan, Ellen and Marianne. Rob, the youngest, is a professional musician working in Manhattan. However one Reddy carries on the family tradition. Son Billy is a grocer connection who now owns his own deli in Guildenlend Center in upstate New York.

Inez O'Connor: Retired KPHS Teacher

Volunteer and World Traveler

By Denise Creighton - KingsPark.Patch.Com

At 86 years old, Inez O'Connor has more energy than those half her age. Most residents know her as "the walker" who is out at the crack of dawn doing her daily 2 mile walk. She gets her walk in early so that she can do her work out later in the day at Curves.

Upon graduating from Plattsburgh State Teachers' College in 1945, Inez settled in Kings Park. She immediately began working in the high school as a Home Economics teacher.

" I loved working in Kings Park," said O'Connor. " The parents were wonderful. The kids were wonderful." She said it was a different time. "The kids knew if they sassed you and you called home, there would be trouble at the doorstep."

O'Connor was the first woman ever to ask for, and be granted, a maternity leave in the Kings Park school system. Today, she has 6 grown children, 19 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren (with another on the way). Visits to family include trips to Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina.

Once a year, O'Connor goes on an international adventure with her younger sister. Some of their favorite trips have been to India, Thailand, Vietnam, Machu Pichu, and Africa. This year's trip will be an Adriatic cruise to Montenegro and Croatia. O'Connor loves experiencing other cultures and often returns home grateful and edified. While visiting Normandy, O'Connor recalls being moved by the soldiers' gravestones, some of which had crucifixes, others Jewish stars. She was touched by the fact that in life they may have fought against each other, in death they were buried beside each other.

When at home, O'Connor can often be found selling raffles for the Smithtown Lionesses yearly drawing. This year organization is purchasing a seeing eye dog. They also donate to local charities for battered women and those affected by diabetes and other debilitating illnesses. She is also an active member of St. Joseph's Catholic Daughters of America, the Retired Teachers Association and the Kings Park Senior Citizens and volunteers three times a week at the Methodist Church Thrift Shop.

O'Connor loves her hometown of Kings Park. "I find it so very friendly and outgoing. That parade (St. Patrick's Day) was the greatest thing in the world. It was so uniting."

She enjoys seeing former students and the children of former students around town. That and her her philosophy of keeping busy and exercising are what keep her young. Having survived both lung cancer and a stroke, Inez O'Connor does not let a day go by when she doesn't live life to its fullest. She is a Kings Parker you should get to know.

King Pedlar: The Life of a Kings Parker

By Denise Creighton - KingsPark.Patch.Com

Spending time with King Pedlar is like walking down Kings Park’s very own Memory Lane. Many people greet him by name, and stop to talk about his photography projects or the good old days down at The Beacon(now The Old Dock Inn) with Benny the Bartender. Times were simple then and Pedlar maintains that sense of simplicity in his daily life.

Pedlar’s young life was far from easy. When he was only 10 years old, his father, a Yale educated writer for NBC, died leaving his mother to care for King, his younger brother Dean and a sister Lynne.

1949 was a time of horrible hardship for the family and they moved into St. Johnland, which at the time was a home for orphans and those in need. There Pedlar and his siblings were educated and content. In the early ‘50’s, Pedlar’s mother remarried and moved the family to Levittown where King and his siblings were bussed to Farmingdale High School. The adjustment from the small 10 student classrooms of St. Johnland to the large public high school was too much for Pedlar. At 17, he enrolled in the United States Navy.

After returning from the Navy, Pedlar briefly entered the Kings Park State Hospital Nursing School in 1957. However, the rigors of the program were not for him and he left the program and began working as an attendant at the psychiatric facility.

He and many of his co-workers lived in a large one room dormitory and enjoyed the camaraderie of the hospital. Pedlar called those days his “Shangra-La”, a phrase he attributes to his friend and co-worker Matty O’Reilly. Pedlar served as a night shift attendant from 1958 until his retirement in 1990 . His time as an employee was recently documented in Lucy Winer’s Kings Park: Stories From An American Mental Institution.

Throughout his tenure at KPPC, Pedlar also served the community as a bus driver for the Kings Park School District. This part-time position gave him the opportunity to get to know many of the KPHS athletes.  “Those kids were really like the crème de le crème. Great kids," he said.

Today, most people know Pedlar as an unofficial historian and photographer for the community of Kings Park. He still lives in view of the hospital grounds. “Those bricks are in my blood. I still enjoy looking at them.”

He and friend Steve Weber have done some work on short films about the history of Kings Park. Pedlar characterizes them as simple, short films about Kings Park places and events and can be seen on Facebook and YouTube.

He also enjoys keeping those who have left Kings Park abreast of happenings and events in town. Aside from his passion for photography, Pedlar also enjoys playing the piano. He recently played at the Kings Park Jazz Festival and would enjoy playing in a piano lounge at some point.

Pedlar says he loves his Kings Park and its people. He notes an increase in traffic and people and although he misses the days where everyone knew everyone, he does see the positive growth in our community.

“Years ago, you’d have to leave Kings Park to go to the doctor or the dentist or a good restaurant. Everything is here now."

Don Guilfoil: Retired Police Officer

By Denise Creighton - KingsPark.Patch.Com

In 1960, Don Guilfoil, a Korean war vet who served on the USS Badger, settled in Kings Park where he and his wife, Betty, would raise their five sons. Guilfoil had worked as a milkman for years and decided to take the Suffolk County Police Department test in order to serve others and secure a good future for his fast-growing family. Guilfoil passed the test and joined the force in 1963. His last 11 years were spent in the Arson Squad. He retired from the force on November 30, 1987.

Like many police officers, Guilfoil understood the risk of the job. However, in the 1970's, he was moved by the rise of officers killed in the line of duty.

"It seemed as though they were killing cops left and right. The Black Panthers killed two officers in a city housing project. Another two officers were shot down and then their killers took their own guns from their holsters and shot them again. I wanted to do something so that these heroes wouldn't be forgotten."

Those years were considered the deadliest decade for law enforcement officers. The 1970's saw 2,231 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty according to Shield 370, a Suffolk County Police Department publication.

Guilfoil brought his idea of a national memorial to all fallen law enforcement officers to the Suffolk County Policemen's Benevolent Association. The PBA in turn got the support of then Congressman James Grover. However, when Grover lost his reelection bid, there was fear that the project would be dropped. However, Bronx Congressman Mario Biaggi, himself a former cop, stepped in and pushed legislation forward.

After years of lobbying, Guilfoil's dream became a reality. On October 5, 1991, the National Law Enforcement Memorial was dedicated and opened to the public. The nation's monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty features two 304 foot-long, blue gray curving walls. Etched on these walls are the names of over 20,000 men and women who have been killed in the line of duty throughout the United States. Sadly, new names are added to the walls as the number of heroes grows.

Guilfoil was not content with the monument, however. He was one of the original officers who pushed for the establishment of a local memorial fund for fallen officers. He and fellow officers were instrumental in a program in which .50 cents of each active officer's paycheck was donated to a family fund for fallen officers' loved ones. Guilfoil also helped convince former County Executive Gaffney to fly the National Law Enforcement flag at Police Headquarters and local precincts.

George H.W. Bush, president when the memorial was dedicated in 1991 spoke of the bravery of those killed in the line of duty.

“They gave much and asked little. They deserve our remembrance. Here in America’s capital for as long as these walls stand, they will be remembered, not for the way they died, but for how they lived.”

Historic Smithtown
 by Maggie Blanck

Visit Maggie Blanck's Web Site on Historic Smithtown!

Click HERE to Visit Maggie's Website

Kings Park School District

Click Here and Visit
Kings Park Central School Website!

Click Image above to visit The Town of Smithtown Web Site!