[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 20639-20640]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    TRIBUTE TO VITILAS ``VETO'' REID

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 24, 2001

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor and offer my congratulations 
to Vitilas ``Veto'' Reid on his recent retirement from the U.S. Postal 
Service after fifty years of service. During his half century of 
distinguished service, Mr. Reid held several management positions, 
including Postmaster of the St. Charles, Missouri post office.

[[Page 20640]]

  Vitilas Reid was an honor graduate of Vashon High School in St. 
Louis, and he later attended Stowe Teachers College and the University 
of Missouri--St. Louis.
  Mr. Reid joined the Postal Service on August 20, 1951 as an 
indefinite substitute clerk in St. Louis. In 1953, he was made a full-
time regular clerk and he worked in several clerk assignments until he 
was promoted to Supervisor of Mails in 1969. In 1977, Mr. Reid was 
detailed to Chicago, Illinois to serve on a special assignment with the 
Delivery Programs branch.
  Months later, he returned to St. Louis to serve as Manager of the 
Chouteau Station, the first African American manager to serve in South 
St. Louis. In 1983, Mr. Reid was appointed Officer-in-Charge of the St. 
Charles post office, where he later was promoted to Postmaster, the 
position he ultimately retired from. He was the recipient of the 
National Association of Postmaster's first Postmaster's Leadership 
Award, which was presented to him at its National Convention in 1992.
  In addition to his long and distinguished career with the Postal 
Service, Veto Reid is also an active and effective community leader. He 
serves on numerous local and regional Advisory Boards, Boards of 
Directors and committees, including the St. Louis NAACP Executive 
Board; the Tri-County United Way; the St. Louis Chapter of Habitat for 
Humanity; the Equal Housing Opportunity Council; the St. Charles County 
Community College Advisory Board; and the Linwood University Board of 
Overseers.
  He was also inducted into the Vashon High School Hall of Fame in 
1990; was appointed President of the St. Joseph Hospital SSM Advisory 
Board in 1995; and was elected President of the Rotary Club of St. 
Charles in 1999, the first African American to hold these positions.
  Veto Reid has devoted his life to community service and helping 
others realize their dreams. He has made a positive impact on countless 
lives he has touched and for that we are all grateful for his efforts. 
Therefore, I want to take this time to proclaim November 3, 2001, as 
``Vitilas `Veto' Reid Day'' in Missouri's First Congressional District.

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