The Widows’ and Orphans’ Aid Association of the San Francisco Police Department held their monthly meeting at 850 Bryant Street room 125 on Tuesday December 12, 2017 at 1pm.
Roll Call: Vice President Leroy Lindo (on conference call), Secretary Mark McDonough, Treasurer Dean Taylor, and Trustees Ray Kane, James O’Meara, and Rob Forneris were present. President John Centurioni was excused. Trustee John Keane resigned his position as Trustee. Sally Foster and Louis Barberini were present. Secretary Mark McDonough was the Acting-President for the meeting.
Approval of Minutes: Trustee Al Luenow made a motion to approve the November 2017 meeting minutes. Trustee Ray Kane seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection.
Receiving Applications, Suspensions; and Reinstatements: No suspensions were reported. All members who were suspended in 2017, and who have not since paid their dues and fines will be stricken from the roll in January. We received the dues and fines from Ed Packard. Trustee Ray Kane made a motion to reinstate Ed Packard as a member in good standing. Al Luenow seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection.
Communications and Bills: The regular order of business was pre-empted for an Audit report by our representative Joey Kennedy of Clifton Larson Allen. Joey Kennedy presented an overview of our yearly audit and recommended the following: That we reconcile our membership list on our data base. The reconciliation shall be an accurate accounting of all members current and active, separate lists for each, and an accurate update on members who retire each month. We often have members who retire during the year and do not realize that their automatic payroll deduction stops. We visit the S.F.P.D. Retirement Seminars and remind members that they will be billed through the mail after retirement. We strongly recommend automatic payment through your bank or financial institution, or use the option to pay through our website. Kennedy also recommended that we update the language of our Constitution and By Laws to reflect our current operations. Kennedy is aware that we have a Constitution and By-Laws re-write that is ready for print, which will then be sent to the membership for vote. Kennedy also discussed the benefit of possibly using a different tax classification. We are currently using the 501c(3). We are considering the 501c(4).
Treasurer Dean Taylor presented the monthly bills and beneficiary payouts for the designated beneficiary of members Ray Crosat and Ron Vernali. Trustee James O’Meara made a motion to pay the monthly bills and beneficiary payouts. Trustee Rob Forneris seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection. Treasurer Taylor would like to remind members that their payments can be made through the SF Police Credit Union by logging in at sfpcu.org/woaadues. Once you register your dues will be deducted every year.
The WOAA received a donation from Yvonne Granzotto in the name of recently passed member Mario B. Pola.
The meeting was Pre-empted for a second time for the vote on the vacant Trustee seat and for a new Bookkeeper. Julie Centurioni has stepped down from the position of Bookkeeper. Louis Barberini was nominated last month by Trustee Rob Forneris. Rob made a motion to accept Louis Barberini as our new Trustee. Trustee James O’Meara seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection. Trustee Ray Kane made a motion to hire former Past President Sally Foster as the new bookkeeper. Trustee Al Luenow seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection. We welcome Louis Barberini (retired S.F.P.D.) and welcome back Sally Foster.
Report of Visiting Committee: No report this month.
Report of Trustees: We received the sad news that member Bernard H. Becker:
Bernard H. Becker, age 76: Bernard Henry Becker was born on April 11, 1941 in San Francisco to Bernard and Georgia Becker. Bernie attended St. Emydius Grammar School, and went on to play football and graduate from Archbishop Riordan High School in 1960. Bernie was president of the Doran Club at St. Emydius. Bernie enlisted in the United States Army in 1961. Bernie was stationed in Straubing, Germany for 3 years where he served with the 11th Armored Cavalry. Bernie married Margaret Alldack and they later had five children, Sepp, Jeff, Jason, Gigi, and Jay. Bernie returned from Germany and decided to follow his Grandfather, and his father by joining the San Francisco Police Department. Bernie began his career in Law Enforcement on January 18, 1965. Bernie graduated from the Police Academy on April 5, 1965. Bernie was assigned to wear star #1372. Bernie worked the following assignments in his four year career In the San Francisco Police Department: Northern Police Station (April 5, 1965), Central Police Station (March 21, 1966), Identification Bureau (September 12, 1966), and his last assignment was Richmond Police Station (February 6, 1968). Bernie left the S.F.P.D. on May 20, 1969, but continued his City Employment by “switching” to the San Francisco Fire Department. At that time, switching Departments was allowed after passing a physical exam. Bernie, who worked part-time for Loomis Armored, retired with a Disability Retirement from the San Francisco Fire Department in 1977. While he was in the S.F.P.D., Bernie was awarded a Third Grade Medal of Valor services rendered on July 27, 1968. Bernie was off duty and observed a felony assault with a knife. Bernie engaged in a physical struggle with the suspect who was in possession of the knife. Bernie was able to disarm and subdue the suspect who was arrested for the stabbing. Bernie was awarded a second Third Grade Medal of Valor for services rendered on August 16, 1968. Bernie arrested a suspect who was pointing a gun at him. During his life, Bernie lived in Novato with his family. There, Bernie was an active member in the Knights of Columbus at Our Lady of Lorettto Church. Bernie coached little league teams for many years and twice took the “Owls” to the Championship. Bernie relocated his family to Sonoma County in 1979. He was a great supporter of Cardinal Newman and Ursuline High Schools. Bernie was very passionate about any sport that his children participated in, but mostly, Bernie was mostly a Cardinal Newman Football fan. In 1985 Bernie married Lee and they had a daughter Gabrielle Becker. Bernie also started his Sober Living Facilities around this time. At the peak, he had 8 homes and over 30 clients participating in the Sober Living Program. The Sober Living Program was linked the Alcoholics Anonymous Program. In 1995 Bernie married Linda and had a daughter Genna Becker. At this point the theme was clear, boys start with the letter “J”, and the girls names will start with the letter “G”. Bernie is survived by 15 Grandchildren. Bernie was very proud of everything his family accomplished. He took great pride in cheering on everything they did and made sure to tell them what was appropriate, and what was not appropriate. Bernie encourage his children to join the San Francisco Fire Department. Bernie’s strong faith in God and service can still be seen in the accomplishments of his family every day. Jay Becker contributed to this obituary.
Report of Special Committee: We reviewed the language of our Constitution and By Laws re-write. We agreed that we are ready to go forward with the print of our recommended changes that shall be presented to our membership for a vote. We discussed how and when we will send out the update change recommendations. We will decide the date of the mailing when the recommendations are printed
Unfinished Business: No report this month
New Business: No report this month.
Good of the Order: No report this month.
Adjournment: Acting President (Secretary) Mark McDonough led our Board in a moment of silence for all of our fallen members and specifically Bernard H. Becker. The next scheduled meeting will be held on Tuesday January 9, 2018 at 12:30pm. The meeting will be held in room #150 at the Hall of Justice 850 Bryant Street in San Francisco.
To All Members: Please visit our website at sfwidowsandorphans.org. Beneficiary forms can accessed by clicking on the RESOURCES box on our face page. New beneficiary forms REQUIRE a signature by a NOTARY, or a signature by one of our current Board Members. The beneficiary forms should also be used to submit any address or contact number changes. The address and contact number updates do not require a Notary signature. Please send your completed forms to WOAA, P.O. Box 4247, San Rafael, CA 94913-4247. Current member information is essential to processing claims in a correct and timely manner. We continue each month to express our thanks and gratitude to the following people who greatly assist our efforts: Retired S.F.P.D. Police Captain and the current POA Defense Administrator Paul Chignell, David Ng of Personnel, Risa Tom and Sgt. Rachael Kilshaw of the Police Commission Office, Retired S.F.P.D. Sergeant and the long standing POA Journal Editor Ray Shine, Retired S.F.P.D. Lieutenant and host of the Gold Country Reaper website Rene LaPrevotte, and finally to the S.F.P.D. Traffic Command and Officers who graciously afford us a location for our files and our monthly meetings.