Stratton Marmarou was a Reading policeman and detective who was perhaps best known to the broader public as a passionate and outspoken elected city leader.
For generations of active and retired city police officers, however, he was known for another role — the founding father and steady pillar of the Reading Police Beneficial Association.
“He was retired from the Reading Police Department, but he stayed active in our organization,” said Jackie Flanagan, a retired city sergeant who serves as the association’s secretary/treasurer.
The organization’s roots stretch back to 1924, when the City of Reading Police Pension Fund Association was established. For decades, the fund provided pensions to members and to families of deceased members through dues, bequests, gifts and fundraisers — most notably the Bentley Bros. Circus.
In the late 1970s, the city government assumed responsibility for managing police pensions. The funds were split between the new city‑run pension system and the original organization, which was renamed the Reading Police Beneficial Association.
“Strat had a lot to do with that,” Flanagan said. “He believed retirees weren’t getting enough benefits, so he started the beneficial association, which was incorporated in 1979. He became the first president and remained president for decades.”
Stratton Marmarou
Marmarou, who also served as a City Council member for many years, died Feb. 20 at age 92.
To honor his legacy, members and their families turned out in force Thursday evening for the beneficial association’s annual Scholarship and Benefit Baseball Night at the Reading Fightin Phils’ Redner’s Event Center.
State Sen. Judy Schwank and Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams were among the invited guests. Both delivered brief remarks at the start of the program.
Before the buffet lines opened, Peter Marmarou accepted a commemorative plaque on behalf of his family in recognition of his father’s lasting contributions to the organization and the community.
Association President Kyle Rentschler called the room’s attention to another highlight of the evening — one that he said tied together the association’s past, present and future.
He presented the association’s second annual Stratton Marmarou Scholarship to Henry Brea, a 17‑year‑old Reading High School graduate who plans to pursue a criminal justice degree this fall at Penn State Berks. Brea was recommended for the $1,000 award by the Reading High School Scholarship Committee. The award was created last year while Marmarou was still alive.
In addition to the singular Marmarou scholarship, the association recognized 26 other college scholarship recipients — children of Reading Police Department members — who each received smaller scholarships to support their educational goals.
Walter Balkiewicz, American Legion Gregg American Legion Post 12 of Reading, presented that organization’s Officer of the Year Award to Reading police Officer Zachary Rivera.
Association President Kyle Rentschler, a retired Reading police lieutenant who now heads the district attorney’s Forensic Services Unit, read from the nomination that led to Rivera’s selection.
The account detailed an early‑morning encounter on Aug. 14, 2025, when Rivera, stopped at a red light on North Front Street and saw a man running toward him carrying a 1‑year‑old child who was not breathing. Rivera immediately took the child, cleared the airway with two back slaps and returned the now‑crying infant to the frantic parent.
“Because of his first aid training and his quick ability to know what to do, Officer Rivera most likely saved the life of this young child,” Rentschler said, adding that Rivera’s actions exemplify his service to the community.
For many in the room, the night served as both tribute and reminder: Marmarou’s influence endures not only in the association he helped build, but in the officers, families and young people who continue to benefit from it.