[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 131 (Tuesday, October 8, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1783-E1784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN HONOR OF MR. HARRY MAITLAND, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 7, 2002

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
special individual in my community who recently passed away.

[[Page E1784]]

  Mr. Harry Maitland, Jr., 76, of Middletown, Pennsylvania, was a 
celebrated police reporter and editor for my hometown newspaper, the 
Delaware County Daily Times. Mr. Maitland's 52 years on staff at the 
Daily Times was the longest in the newspaper's 126-year history.
  Mr. Maitland was born in Chester and was a resident of Aston, 
Pennsylvania until moving to Middletown 48 years ago. A 1944 graduate 
of Chester High School, he attended the Pennsylvania Military College, 
now known as Widner University.
  Mr. Maitland was only a sophomore when his long run at the Daily 
Times began. Starting his career as a sports correspondent, he was 
hired full-time in 1950 where he worked in a variety of positions. 
During World War II, Harry served in the communications section of the 
Air Force during the occupation of Germany. Drawing on his experiences 
in the military, Harry was put in charge of interviewing and writing 
stories of local Vietnam War survivors. A veteran and active member of 
the American Legion Post 926, he always maintained a special place in 
his heart for veterans. Harry was the author of a column called ``In 
the Military'' for many years.
  Although writing about the hardships of war was not always a pleasant 
aspect of his life, war did provide him the opportunity to meet his 
wife, Ilse. During his military service in Germany, Mr. Maitland was 
stationed near Wiesbaden in January 1946 when he rescued a young German 
woman from under a tree during a heavy rainstorm. Out of touch for 
seven years after the incident, Harry found her again by writing to 
several newspapers in Wiesbaden. He flew back to Germany and married 
her. A devoted husband, 40 years later he could be heard ending phone 
conversations with her with a kiss into the phone.
  Mr. Maitland was a decorated reporter and writer. He received a first 
place award for local government news writing in the 1972 statewide 
Keystone Press contest for his story on former Special County 
Prosecutor Richard A. Sprague's raid on county Republican headquarters. 
He was also honored by the Fraternal Order of Police and the 
Philadelphia Citizens Crime Commission, which recognized him for 
outstanding police reporting. Finally, in 1985, the Delaware County 
Police Chiefs Association named him Citizen of the Year.
  Mr. Maitland also served his community as a fireman. He was one of 
the first junior members of the Green Ridge Fire Co. in Aston. In 1990, 
I presented Mr. Maitland with a special award from the Delaware County 
Firemen's Association.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on my colleagues to recognize the life of a good 
and honorable man. Harry Maitland, respected and admired by his 
colleagues and his readers was described by one of his co-workers as a 
``reporter's reporter''. Mr. Speaker, Delaware County is a better place 
thanks to the life and contributions of men like Harry Maitland.

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