The monthly meeting of the Widows and Orphans Aid Association of the San Francisco Police Department was called to order on Tuesday July 22, 2014 by President Al Luenow. The meeting was held at 850 Bryant Street in room #150 at 1:50pm. The original meeting was rescheduled from July 8th to accommodate vacation schedules.
Roll Call of Officers: President Al Luenow, Vice President John Keane, Secretary Mark McDonough, Treasurer Dean Taylor, and Trustees Sally Foster, Leroy Lindo, John Centurioni, and Ray Kane were present. Keane and Lindo were out of town, but participated by conference call. Trustee Foster excused herself from the meeting prior to its conclusion. Joe Reilly resigned from his position of Trustee after fourteen and a half years of service to the organization. We graciously thank Joe for his work and dedication to the WOAA. Joe has served as a Trustee, Treasurer, and Secretary for the WOAA and was assisting as our in-house historian. Joe has obtained and forwarded many photos and historical information that appears on our new website. We will fill the vacancy as soon as possible.
Approval of the minutes: Trustee John Centurioni made a motion to approve the June 2014 meeting’s minutes. The motion was seconded by Trustee Foster, and passed without objection.
Receiving Applications for New Members; Suspensions and Reinstatements: Per Article III, Section 3 of our Constitution and By-Laws, Treasurer Dean Taylor notified President Luenow of the below listed members who have not paid any dues for the year 2014. President Luenow declared the following members, as suspended from all benefits and privileges of the association. The listed members will be notified in writing. We do not enjoy printing the names of delinquent members in our article. We hope that a reader(s) who know a suspended member may be able to contact the suspended member. We hope that we will be contacted by the member(s) and to effect a quick resolution. We appreciate any outside assistance. We work diligently throughout the year contacting members who have not paid dues after the month of January. We have received a tremendous amount of assistance from Paul Chignell of the POA. Paul has forwarded email and notices to members from his address book. We received numerous calls in response to Paul’s efforts. Treasurer Taylor and I spend a great amount of time reaching out to unpaid members to make sure they do not lose their W&O benefits. Some of these members failed to pay their dues after stating they would send us a check for the amount due. There is a small percentage of members who never responded. We will diligently attempt to locate them. We try extremely hard to have the members honor their responsibility. Below is the list of suspended WOAA members for 2014. These members will remain suspended until they pay their yearly dues of $72.00 with an additional late charge of $5.00 for each additional month starting in July. Delinquent members will be dropped from their WOAA membership if they have not paid their dues and late charges by December 31, 2014. The following members are suspended from their membership as stated above, which is mandated per our Constitution and By-Laws:
Mike Androvich, Susan Bachman, Raymond Beasley, Robert Bohanon, William Brunicardi, Gordon
Clark, Harold Cole, Fred Curley, Charles Easton, Alexis Goldner, Paul Guinasso, Peter
Ionin, Brian Kneuker, Rodney Lee (partial payment), James Meyer ,Kennth Nieman,
Daniel O’Donnell, Sandra Phillips, Louis Rue, William Scott, Thomas Stack, Raymond Symington.
I had personal contact with five of the above suspended members. They assured me that they would send mail a check to cover their 2014 dues. Other board members had contact with some of the other suspended members. The above suspended members will be dropped from the WOAA, per our Constitution and By-Laws, if a check for dues and late fees are not received by 12/31/14.
2014 Retirees: Any member who has retired in 2014 from the San Francisco Police Department should send a check for the remainder of the year. Members immediately go off City payroll from direct deposit. Each month is a $6 dollar fee totaling $72.00 per year. We urge all retired members to apply for January direct deposit at their financial institution. WOAA dues are due each January.
Communications and Bills: Treasurer Dean Taylor read aloud our monthly bills for telephone usage, death benefitis paid-out (4), administrative costs for our website and services rendered. Trustee John Centurioni made a motion to pay the bills. The motion was seconded by Trustee Sally Foster and passed without objection. “Thank You Letters” were mailed to the following supporters of Warren Maloney who passed away last month: Ginny Maloney, Ken Foss, John Cahill, and Mr. Clifford of First National Bank. We thank you for making generous donations in the name of Warren Maloney.
Report of Visiting Committee: No report this month.
Report of Trustees: Frank G. McFarland, age 89: Frank Guy McFarland was born on July 10, 1925, in San Francisco, California. Frank was born at St. Francis Hospital to Frank Guy McFarland and Mabel Christina McFarland (Peterson).Prior to entering the San Francisco Police Department, Frank had a passion for flying airplanes, and was listed as a T.V. Technician. Frank joined the SFPD on 2-21-55 and was assigned to star# 1193. Frank completed his Academy training in May of 1955 and was transferred to Taraval Police Station. On 3-1-56 Frank was transferred to Central Police Station. During that year, Frank was appointed as a member to the Civil Air Patrol and was eventually promoted to Major, and then to Lt. Colonel of Squadron 96 C.A.P. at Fort Miley, San Francisco. Between 1956 and 1965, Frank worked at the following units: Co. A., Co.K APB, and the Narcotics Detail. Frank was promoted to Asst. Inspector (69), Sergeant (69), and full Inspector (71). Frank’s long-time best friend and partner in the SFPD was Inspector Dave Kellogg. Frank retired with a disability pension on 01-18-77 with 22 years of service with the SFPD. Frank was awarded a Silver Medal of Valor on 1-22-49 for an arrest of two armed burglary suspects who violently resisted arrest. Frank was awarded two Bronze Medals of Valor during his career. The first Bronze was awarded on 6-30-64 for disarming and arresting a knife wielding crazed suspect. On 9-25-67, Frank was awarded his second Bronze Medal for arresting a suspect who had slashed innocent passerbys with a broken bottle. A puzzling case occurred on 12-16-57 when Frank received only a Captain’s Commendation for the arrest of two armed robbery suspects. After retirement, Frank served as a foreman for the El Dorado Hills Grand Jury for two terms. He is survived by his daughter Darlene Craigie, and two sons, Frank G. McFarland Jr., and Gerry McFarland. Frank is also survived by many grandchildren. Frank B. Syme, age 96: Frank B. Syme was born in 1918 in San Francisco to John F., and Barbara J. Syme. Frank was a graduate of Sacred Heart High School in 1935. Frank served in the U.S. Military during WWII from November of 1941 through October of 1945. Frank was stationed in the Aleutian Islands at the rank of Sergeant. Frank earned the Bronze Star and the Silver Star during his time in the U.S. Army. Frank was listed as a Railroad Police Officer prior to entering the San Francisco Police Department. Frank joined the SFPD on 7/7/47, was assigned to star# 1322, and completed his two weeks training in the Police Academy. Frank was transferred to Richmond Police Station in 1947. Frank served in the SFPD for 34 years and rose to the rank of Police Captain. During his career, Frank served at the following assignments: Richmond Police Station, Southern Police Station, the Inspectors Bureau, Taraval Police Station, Potrero Police Station, Field Operations (Headquarters), and Communications. Frank was promoted to Sergeant in 1961, Lieutenant in 1969, and Captain in 1978. Frank is listed as retiring on 1-31-81, however, another publication listed Frank as retiring in 1984 which would total Frank’s career in the SFPD at 37 years. During his career, Frank was awarded two Medals of Valor. On 2-15-57, Frank was awarded a Bronze Medal of Valor for the arrest of a burglary suspect who violently resisted. Later that year on 6-28-57, Frank was awarded a Silver Medal of Valor for the arrest of a prisoner who was armed with a knife. The prisoner had already slashed one officer across his chest, and another on his arm. Frank seized the knife and subdued the suspect. Frank is survived by his sister Barbra Grupico, and brother William Syme. Frank was preceded in death by his parents, and his brothers John and Charles Syme brother-in-law of Phyllis Syme and the late Dorothy Syme. Frank has several nieces and nephews including but not limited to the SFPD’s Sgt. John Syme.
The WOAA reports the passing of member Robert Bronson. Inspector Bronson’s obituary information will appear in the September Journal article. We encourage any obituary information or supportive personal and career information to be submitted for our fallen members. Our thanks go out to Inspector John Monroe of the Police Commission for his research of department medals of valor and other awards earned by our members.
Report of Special Committee: No report this month.
Unfinished Business: The WOAA bookkeeper and Secretary will spearhead the mass mailing to members of our new direct deposit form. We are transitioning all our members to direct deposit. The forms will be mailed to “active members” for a once a year payment each January of our yearly dues of $72.00. This transition will have all WOAA members paying their dues each January. When the transition is complete, there will be no payment changes for the member. We will all be on the same page. This change will eliminate non-payment suspensions of members, and members being dropped from the WOAA. We will not have to ask for assistance for member’s addresses and contact numbers to inform them that they have not paid their yearly dues. The bank will pay your bill each January and send you a notification.
New Business: No report this month.
Good of the Association: No report this month.
Adjournment: President Luenow moved for a moment of silence for our fallen members. President Luenow then set our next meeting for Tuesday August 12, 2014 at 1:45pm. The meeting is scheduled to be held at the Hall of Justice 850 Bryant St, room #150.
All Members: Please visit our website at “sfwidowsandorphans.org”. Members can access beneficiary forms when clicking on the “resources” box on the upper right side of the toolbar. Please use this form for beneficiary changes, and for any changes to your address and phone number(s). Beneficiary changes will need a signature of a Notary, or, a witness signature of a WOAA Board member. Please mail your forms and changes, your dues, or partial dues if recently retired to: WOAA, P.O. Box 880034, San Francisco, California 94188. Our contact telephone number is 415 681-3660. Missed telephone calls with no voice mail message will NOT BE RETURNED. PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE. We continue to thank Lt. Troy Dangerfield at Personnel, Retired Captain Paul Chignell of the POA, and Inspector John Monroe of the Police Commission Office for their continuing assistance. Lt. Dangerfield and Inspector Monroe provide us with supportive information for our obituaries of fallen members. Paul Chignell has had amazing success at locating members who have not updated their contact information with the WOAA and forwarded notices to them to contact us at the WOAA.
ACTIVE SFPD/WOAA MEMBERS: We will send you a form to sign up for direct deposit “once a year” payments of $72.00 for every January. Please sign the form and return it as soon as possible. This change will greatly assist our administrative and accounting responsibilities. The payroll deduction forms will be mailed soon. After the transition, all members (active and retired) will pay their dues in January of each year. This change will erase the confusion and awkward transition when a member retires.