MAURICE F. REIDY, who is considered one of the foremost, if not the leading, real estate and insurance man of Worcester County, was born in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, July 17, 1876, and is a son of John M. and Mary (O'Brien) Reidy, his father for many years a contractor's superintendent, and also an authority on building and construction matters in this section. Mr. Reidy's education was received in the local public schools and St. John's High School but beyond that his acquisition of knowledge was a matter of his own attainment. This, however, is by no means in significant. Mr. Reidy from boyhood craved a higher education, and when it seemed impossible for him to gain it in the formal way of college attendance, he devised means of carrying himself through the work of the college course. Following his graduation from high school, he was employed during the day for six years. Certain of his high school friends attended Holy Cross College and from them he learned the books that they used and kept track of the courses followed.

Day by day he learned the same lessons and in this way covered the courses in French, Latin, logic, philosophy, psychology, applied mechanics, and various other subjects. With this equipment he might well have felt satisfied. He used it, however, more than anything else as a means of acquiring further business efficiency. His first employment was as a collector for the Worcester Gas Company, and in the course of his work in this connection, he learned much of construction work and property values. His father and brothers being in the construction activities of the city, he learned of them a great deal concerning building costs. In fact, at every turn he availed himself of every opportunity to store his mind with useful knowledge. He next became identified with James Healy, Worcester's present Postmaster, then active in the world of finance. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway offered him a position as traveling passenger agent. Mr. Reidy's headquarters would in that case have been in the office of the president of the road, but he felt that his native city offered him larger opportunities, and so declined the offer. It was at this point in his career that Maurice F. Reidy took counsel of an older man, a man with a vision of life loftier than the surroundings of his daily task. This advisor and friend was William Callahan, a blacksmith by trade, whose life had been spent in this work, and who at the time was seventy years of age. Mr. Reidy laid before him his plan to enter the fire insurance field. The possibility of uniting real estate activities with fire insurance was the question he put before the old man and he received the greatest encouragement. William Callahan, however, advised making the real estate branch of first importance and Mr. Reidy went forward along this line. His first headquarters was merely desk room in the offices of Attorney William I. McLoughlin, which were located on the eighth floor of the State Mutual Building. In December, 1909 Maurice F. Reidy made his start and within the first week of his experience, on December 8, of that year he sold a three-story tenement house at No. 31 Freeland Street. At that time in Worcester, $100 was considered munificent remuneration for the services of a real estate dealer, no matter how much money might be involved in the transfer. Thus for his first sale he received $100, al though the property brought $7,950. Two months later Mr. Reidy employed a. stenographer and even with that assistance was busy every minute of the day. He has gone forward in the fourteen years since his start until now he employs eleven people, listing some 2.500 transactions in his spacious offices at Nos. 525-538 State Mutual Building. He handles on leases something over $2,000,000 worth of property in the city, and manages outright more than $3,000,000 worth of property. Mr. Reidy's success in real estate and insurance has naturally brought him before the public eye, and while he has scant leisure, he has served faithfully as a member of the School Board for two terms and for two terms as a member of the Board of Aldermen. He is a member of the Worcester Real Estate Exchange, and has for years been a director of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the sponsors of the city plan. has been a director of the Merchants' National Bank for seven years, was a director of the Park Trust Company until it was absorbed by the Merchants' National Bank, and is treasurer of the Bancroft Realty Company, owner of the Bancroft Hotel. A ready and talented speaker, he frequently appears before clubs and church organizations, and has lectured on real estate at Holy Cross College and Boston University. During the World War he served on the executive committee of the Board of Fuel Administration and the American Red Cross. Few men of Worcester carry the interests of the city to a higher point of enthusiasm than Maurice F. Reidy. Whatever is of Worcester is close to his heart, and he has preserved complete files of Worcester directories, has also kept proprietors' records, records of births and marriages, town and city records of every kind, and has kept every procurable pamphlet or book containing descriptions, maps or illustrations of the city. Nor does Mr. Reidy consider that he has achieved greatness. He believes that it is within the possibility of every American youth to measure up to high standards of achievement as he has done. He has held as his own maxim, practically since boyhood, the following inspiring quotation: "In useful labor; in resourceful creative thought; in wise imagining and holding to the truth; in proud devotion to a simple task; lies honor and the rich reward of growth." With his own early struggles always fresh in his mind, Mr. Reidy does much for the boys of the city and his encouragement of youthful effort and inspiration has started many a lad on a higher path of endeavor. He has for years been vice-president of the Worcester Boys' Club, and his other affiliations include membership in the Knights of Columbus, in which he is an active worker. He is a trustee of St. Vincent's Hospital, and St. Agnes Guild, and gives his cordial endorsement to every branch of organized effort for the public good. He has few personal interests, his life being almost wholly devoted to those activities which include the welfare of others, but he is a member of the Worcester Country Club and the Commonwealth Club. His religious affiliation is with the Roman Catholic church. Maurice F. Reidy married, on June 17, 1912, Eunice M. Darney, who had many times appeared as a soprano soloist in musical fetes, in which Mr. Reidy sang tenor, notably, a programme in Horticultural Hall, in 1907. They are the parents of four sons: Maurice F., Jr., Robert Carl, James, and Philip. Mrs. Reidy is a daughter of James H. and Margaret (Bonner) Darney.