Post office manager played in Army band

Edgar H. DuBois, Jr., 1923-2012

7/31/2012

Edgar H. DuBois, Jr., a retired manager for the U.S. Postal Service who was a musician in the Army Ground Force Band during World War II, died Wednesday in the Hospice of Northwest Ohio in South Toledo. He was 89.

A daughter, Roselyn DuBois Jackson, said he battled leukemia for about three years.

Mr. DuBois, who lived in Toledo, went to work for the Postal Service in 1947, following the career path of his father, Edgar DuBois, who was a postal employee for 24 years.

He joined the agency as a clerk and later became a letter carrier before his promotion to manager of the former Ashland Avenue station, becoming the first African-American in Toledo to hold the supervisory title, said his son-in-law, Donald Jackson.

He retired in 1976.

Mr. DuBois graduated in 1941 from Woodward High, where he played clarinet in the band. He continued his education at the University of Toledo but cut short his studies to enter the Army.

It was during the war that Mr. DuBois played in the 173rd Army Ground Force Band, primarily in the southern states, Mr. Jackson said.

Despite a recent blood transfusion for his leukemia, he joined other veterans in May to take the trip offered by Honor Flight for a visit to the World War II Memorial.

Mr. Jackson said his father-in-law was deeply moved by the experience and enjoyed shaking hands with people who congratulated him for his military service. "He saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Mr. Jackson said.

Mr. DuBois met the former Eudora Alexander while she was working at her uncle's restaurant on Junction Avenue. They were married Jan. 13, 1945. She died Dec. 24, 2003.

Mr. DuBois belonged to the NAACP and Hyatt-Allen Post, American Legion, and was active in All Saints Episcopal Church, where he was a member of the men's guild and sang in the choir. In his later years, Mr. DuBois joined the Chester J. Zablocki Senior Center on Lagrange Street.

He also was a softball umpire for many years and volunteered as a coach for his granddaughter's basketball team at Rosary Cathedral School for several years.

Surviving are his daughters, Roselyn DuBois Jackson and Donna DuBois Foreman; eight grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Dale-Riggs Funeral Home. Services will be at noon Thursday in All Saints Episcopal Church.

The family requests tributes to the church or Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

-- Mark Reiter