William Reese Dial

William Reese Dial, 76, of Wesley Chapel, passed away on April 10th, 2024 at his home with loved ones by his side. Reese was born in Birmingham, AL to Miles and Myrl Dial on February 17th, 1948. In 1960, Reese moved to Florida and worked various jobs until he became a uniformed officer with the Tampa Police Department in 1970.

While working for TPD, Reese attended the University of South Florida and earned his Bachelor Arts in Criminal Justice in 1978. Reese met his wife Sylvia and the two were married in 1980. During his extensive 33 year career as a full time member of the police department, Reese served in multiple capacities to include the Selective Enforcement Unit, Dui Squad, and Canine Squad. Reese was promoted to detective and worked undercover as a Vice Detective. He was later promoted to Sergeant in 1985 where he served at the District level, supervising and mentoring countless squads of officers. Reese retired as a full-time officer in 2003 but immediately joined the Tampa Police Reserve force where he served for an additional 20 years before retiring in early 2024 after 53 total years of service with the Tampa Police Department.

Reese is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Miles ‘Hardy’ Dial Jr.

He is survived by his brother, Damon Dial (Ann) and his loving wife Sylvia. Together Reese and Sylvia raised three children, Scotty Meredith (Suzette), Brett Dial (Lauren) and Ashley Dial Sutton (Adam). Reese was a proud “PawPaw” of 8 grandchildren, Kai, Dakota, Nova, Elijah, Hayden, Ivy, Dawson and Chandler.

Pallbearers will be the Tampa Police Department Honor Guard.

A funeral service will be held at Creekside Church of Lutz, 311 Newberger Rd, Lutz, FL 33549 for family, friends and the local law enforcement community on Thursday, April 18th, 2024. A public visitation will begin at 9am with the service to follow at 10am. A graveside service will follow at Garden of Memories at 4207 E Lake Avenue, Tampa, Florida.