Donald L. Baird | Textile trader, 88

Donald L. Baird, 88, of Wynnewood, a textile trader from 1948 until earlier this year, died of lung cancer May 4 at Lankenau Hospital.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Bala Golf Club, 2200 Belmont Ave.

From the 1950s into the 1960s, his firm was known as Baird Associates, with offices at Second and Ritner Streets near the South Philadelphia waterfront, Mr. Baird's daughter Lisa said, "back in the day when Philadelphia was an active port."

But, she said, the business changed names and locations over the years, with at most a 15-person staff. Most recently, she said, he worked from an office in his apartment building.

She said that her father "bought material in large quantities, in tons, all over the world . . . from people who accumulated inventory in order to trade it."

He was among those "who bought and sold materials slated to be recycled into another use, many years before the term recycling was commonplace."

Mr. Baird attended Overbrook High School, served in the Army during World War II, and took courses at what is now Philadelphia University.

Besides his daughter, Mr. Baird is survived by his wife of 59 years, Deena; sons Jonathan and Robert; a sister; and seven grandchildren. A son, Richard, died in 1960.