Roll Call: President Sally Foster, Vice President John Centurioni, Secretary Mark McDonough, Treasurer Dean Taylor, Trustees Leroy Lindo, Ray Kane, Jim O’Meara, Al Luenow, and John Keane were all present. WOAA book keeper Julie Centurioni was also present at the meeting.
Approval of the Minutes: Trustee Al Luenow made a motion to accept our minutes from last month’s meeting in February 2016. Trustee John Keane seconded the motion which passed without objection.
Receiving Applications for New Members; Suspensions and Reinstatements: Trustee Ray Kane and I responded to the Police Academy and presented our membership to the 248th and 250thL (lateral transfers) classes. With considerable assistance from Academy Staffer Edie Lewis, we were able to sign up 36 of 41 248th class members who were eligible. We also signed up 8 of 11 eligible members from the 250th Lateral Class. Mary Espinoza who was suspended in January will be sent a formal letter this month. There were no reinstatements.
Communications and Bills: Death Benefits were paid to the listed beneficiary(s) of fallen members Matt Genna, John McKenna, Gordon Clark and Joseph Cotla.
Julie Centurioni presented a verbal report on our 2016 billing. Julie stated that she is currently identifying all membership address conflicts. The WOAA is actively requesting all members to update their addresses, contact numbers, and beneficiary forms. Retired members should make an effort to update their information if it were to change. Old outdated addresses cause delays in our billing efforts and creates numerous phone calls as to why a member did not receive a bill. Please assist us in our effort to be more efficient by providing us with correct contact information. BILLING RETIRED MEMBERS: If you are a retired member and read this column, please inform other retired members that we must wait to late January to receive our list of members who are on Automatic Payment from the Credit Union or other Banks. We then subtract the names of those who paid their dues, and bill the remaining retired members who pay by personal check each year. The increase in automatic payment members has been significant. The bills in years past would be sent out in early January. This new process delays our billing to early February each year. Please do not react to NOT receiving a bill in January. Trustee Ray Kane made a motion to pay the regular monthly bills. Trustee Leroy Lindo seconded the motion which passed without objection.
Report of Visiting Committee: Trustee John Keane attended the funeral service for Lieutenant Greg Dare. John and Greg were classmates in the 169th Recruit Class. John said the Funeral was well attended and that Greg was spoken highly by his friends and Co-workers. Command Staff members attended the service.
Report of Trustees: The WOAA received the sad news of the passing of our following members:
Greg Dare , age 49 : Gregory R. Dare was born on October 15, 1966. Greg tragically passed away while actively working as an active Lieutenant of Police in the S.F.P.D. on February 23, 2016. Greg entered the San Francisco Police Department on June 24, 1991. Greg entered the academy as a member of the 169th Recruit Class and would wear star # 897. Greg left the Police Academy on December 6, 1991 and was assigned to Ingleside Police Station’s FTO program. Greg worked the following units as an active police officer in the S.F.P.D: Ingleside Police Station (December 6, 1991), Tenderloin Task Force (February 29, 1992), Potrero Police Station (January 16, 1993), Tenderloin Task Force (February 12, 1994), Ingleside Police Station (August 26, 1995), Central Police Station (June 7, 2003), Promoted to Sergeant on August 30, 2003 and assigned to Ingleside Police Station. Greg was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on September 12, 2015 and was then assigned to the Police Academy.
Greg was the beloved husband of Vivian Dare, the adored father of his son Christopher, the loving son of his father Richard and late mother Flora Dare, cherished brother of Kenneth Dare (Annie), David Dare, and Laura (Tom Feng) Dare, and uncle to numerous nieces and nephews. A native to San Francisco, Greg graduated from Lowell High School and San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology. Greg enjoyed spending his time with Vivian and Christopher and traveled many times to Maui and Disneyland. Greg traveled to many different stadiums throughout the United States to watch the San Francisco Giants play baseball. Greg traveled with his son whom he shared a special bond for the love of baseball. Greg enjoyed watching Christopher play baseball.
Roy Giorgi, age 88: Roy was born on Christmas Eve in 1927 in San Francisco (12-24-27). Roy was a ‘Route Salesman’ prior to entering the San Francisco Police Department. Roy entered the S.F.P.D. on September 1, 1956. Roy wore star #1849 and left the Police Academy on November 27, 1956 and worked the following units as a San Francisco Police Officer: Central Police Station (November 27, 1956), Potrero Police Station (September 9, 1957), Richmond Police Station (September 17, 1958), Central Police Station (May 25, 1959), Support Services Bureau I.D. Section (August 15, 1977). Roy retired on a disability pension on January 10, 1978. Roy was awarded a Bronze Medal of Valor for services rendered on April 1, 1974 when he, and partners Thomas Stack and William Wasley apprehended a mentally deranged suspect who had fired several rounds from a .38 revolver inside his residence and was using four small children to shield himself when officers arrived. The Officers were able to convince the suspect to surrender after several threats to fire his gun. Roy was awarded a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on April 21, 1971 with partners Thomas Stack and William Wasley. Roy, Stack, and Wasley conducted an outstanding investigation that led to the arrest of a suspect who had committed five robberies. Roy is survived by his loving wife of 34 years, Shirley, and his daughters Terry (Barry), Lori (Bill), Step Son Steven Thoma (retired SFPD (Jackie)), and nine grandchildren. His family meant the world to him. Roy was born and raised in the Mission District of San Francisco, attended Mission High School where he played football, soccer, and basketball. Roy was an exceptional athlete on the football field and frequently made the sports pages of the Chronicle and the Examiner with headlines such as “Gorgeous Giorgi does it again”. After graduation Roy served his country in the U.S. Navy where Roy played on the Navy Football team and in the Rice Bowl, while stationed in Japan. Roy was honorably discharged in 1947 and returned home to San Francisco. Roy was named All City Football Player and received a full scholarship to USF to play football. Roy was a member of the USF Dons legendary football team of 1950-1951. Roy was later inducted into the USF Hall of Fame. Following college, Roy joined the S.F.P.D.
Unfinished Business: With our actuarial study completed and our announcement of our Dues Increase, we will resume our project of rewriting our Constitution and By-Laws. President Sally Foster provided copies of our rewrite proposal to all board members present and requested that we review it prior to our next meeting. Trustee Jim O’Meara has recommended attorney Ed Willig to review our recommendations per our Non-Profit Status.
New Business: No report this month.
Good of the Association: No report this month.
Adjournment: President Sally Foster led our meeting and members present with a ‘moment of silence’ for all our passed members. President Foster set our next meeting for Tuesday April 12, 2016. The meeting will be held at 850 Bryant Street, room #150 at 1:45pm. President Foster adjourned the meeting.
To All Members: Please visit our website at ‘sfwidowsandorphans.org’ to effect changes to your beneficiary(s) and your address and contact numbers. Please click on the ‘resources’ box which is located on the upper right side of the tool bar. Print out the beneficiary form, complete it, and mail it to P.O. Box 880034, San Francisco, Ca 94188. Change of Beneficiary requires a signature of a Board Member or Notary. I can be contacted at 415 681-3660. The WOAA continues to bestow our gratitude to the following: Paul Chignell of the POA who supports our efforts to locate lost members who have not updated their contact information, Captain Nick Rainsford and David Ng of Personnel who support us with employment history for our obituaries, and Sgt. R. Kilshaw and Risa Tom of the Police Commission Office who support us with Member Award information for our obituary section. We thank Ray Shine of the SFPOA Journal for all his patience and support, and the Traffic Bureau of 850 Bryant Street for their hospitality and support.