Frederick M. Reinholdt Jr., a retired railroad administrator and sports enthusiast, died of pneumonia Thursday at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Bird River-area resident was 82.
Born in Baltimore and raised on Homestead Street in Waverly, he was the grandson of the operator of the old York Road tollhouse.
Mr. Reinholdt attended City College and was a catcher in the old St. Bernard's Church Baseball League. He enlisted in the Army during World War II and served in the Ardennes region of Belgium and the Rhineland region of Germany.
After the war, he joined the old Pennsylvania Railroad and became a master mechanic and worked from Penn Station. He was later a regional foreman before retiring in 1980.
He worked to form the DeWees Baseball Little League in Govans in the middle 1950s. A lifelong sports fan, Mr. Reinholdt, his wife and friends purchased a block section of season tickets at Memorial Stadium in the early 1950s. He was in attendance when the Colts played their first game. He kept his seats until the Colts traded John Unitas to the San Diego Chargers in 1973. He also attended the Dec. 28, 1958, National Football League championship game at Yankee Stadium in New York, where the Colts defeated the Giants.
Family members said Mr. Reinholdt attended the first Orioles home game in 1954 as well as Baltimore's first All-Star Game in 1958. He also helped his grandson Max Mencken Reinholdt attend 23 consecutive Oriole opening days.
He was a member of the St. John's Old Tenth Ward Association and spent hours tending more than 10 birdfeeders on his 5-acre property. He belonged to the Rosedale American Legion and the Waverly Sport and Social Club.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 11 a.m. Friday at Our Lady Queen of Peace Roman Catholic Church, Bird River Road, where he was a member.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, the former Catherine Streets; a son, Frederick M. Reinholdt III of Cockeysville; a daughter, Catherine Reinholdt of Chase; two brothers, Clarence "Skip" Reinholdt and Frank Reinholdt, both of Baltimore; a sister, Joan Connolly of Baltimore; four grandchildren; and a great-grandson. A daughter, Margaret Reinholdt, died in 1991.