The Widows’ and Orphans’ Aid Association of the San Francisco Police Department held their monthly meeting at the Hall of Justice on Tuesday October 10, 2017, at 1 pm. The regular order of our meeting was preempted for a vote of our new Trustee candidate Rob Forneris. Trustee Al Luenow made a motion to vote for Rob Forneris as a new Trustee for our vacant seat. Trustee Jim O’Meara seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor of Rob Forneris who is now our new junior Trustee.
Roll Call: President John Centurioni, Vice President Leroy Lindo, Secretary Mark McDonough, Treasurer Dean Taylor, Trustees James O’Meara, Al Luenow, Rob Forneris and Bookkeeper Julie Centurioni were present. Trustees Ray Kane and John Keane were excused.
Approval of the Minutes: Trustee Jim O’Meara made a motion to approve the minutes from our September 2017 meeting. Trustee Rob Forneris seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection.
Applications; Suspensions; and Reinstatements: The WOAA will be presenting our membership and accepting applications with the 257th Recruit Class on October 23, 2017.Trustee Jim O’Meara will respond to the San Francisco Police Academy at 3 pm for WOAA membership sign up. New suspension letters were sent on September 29, 2017 to the following members who have not paid their 2017 dues: Ray Carlson, Albert Fernandez, Donald Hansen, David Householder, Eugene Messerschmidt, Ed Packard, and Vivian Williams There were no new reinstatements.
Communications and Bills: Treasurer Dean Taylor presented the monthly bills which included death benefits paid to the beneficiary(s) of fallen members David Seyler and Frank Williams. Trustee Jim O’Meara made a motion to pay the bills and the death benefits. Trustee Al Luenow seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection.
Report of Visiting Committee: No report this month.
Report of Trustees: The WOAA was contacted with the sad news of our members passing;
Ray Crosat, age 89: Ray Crosat was born in San Francisco, California on February 26, 1928. Ray graduated from Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco. After High School, Ray is listed as being a “Dairyman”. If there is anyone under the age of 50 who reads this column, you may not recall or know, that back-in-the-day, Milk was delivered to residences in San Francisco. A resident could sign up for Milk delivery just as you would the Newspaper. This process involved the use of a telephone since the computer was not yet created. We could not go “on line” for our purchases. Ray joined the San Francisco Police Department on January 16, 1954. Ray wore star #1816 and left the Academy on March 1, 1954. Ray worked the following assignments during his 30 year career: Co. K Traffic (March 1, 1954), Co .K 3 Wheelers (July 28, 1955), and Ray’s final listed assignment was Permits (promoted to the rank of Sergeant April 9, 1980). Ray retired with a service pension on November 30, 1983. For services rendered on June 2, 1970, Ray was awarded a Silver Medal of Valor. On that day, at 1211 hours, a suspect held up the Provident Loan Company at 932 Mission Street in San Francisco. To our young readers a “hold up, or stick up” is a robbery. The suspect was cornered in the parking lot and took cover. Police Officers Richard Anderson, Ray Crosat, Ronald Hansen, Frederick Mott, and Patrol Special George Rankin were present and exchanged gun fire with the suspect. According to witnesses, the suspect placed his gun to his head and committed suicide. All named Officers received a Silver Medal of Valor. After retiring Ray and his wife enjoyed 5th Wheeling and Ballroom Dancing. Ray was a member of the South End Rowing Club and was an avid handball player winning numerous tournaments, and gold and silver medals in the Police Olympics (now the Police Games). Ray was a member of the SF Veteran’s POA; a Past President of the Widows’ and Orphans’ Aid Association, Past President of NSGW #157, Past President of the Verdi Club, and a member of the Italian American Social Club, the South San Francisco Elks Lodge, the Golden Gate Smooth Dancers, and the YMI. Ray is survived by his daughter Kathie Bailey (Don), his sons retired S.F.P.D. Sergeant Bob Crosat (Nancy), and Raymond John Crosat (Marty). Ray is survived by six grand-children, twelve great grand-children, and several nieces and nephews.
Report of Special Committee: No report this month.
Unfinished Business: The Board will meet next month and review the 2018 dues raise. We will review our Actuarial Report in regard to a necessary dues increase.
New Business: Vice President Leroy Lindo will respond to Sigmund Stern Grove on Thursday October 19, 2017 for the S.F.P.D. Retirement Seminar. Leroy will remind the class that they will be “off” payroll when they retire and their dues contribution will stop via paycheck. Retirees are billed through the mail and have payment options of paypal (sfwidowsandorpans.org), automatic payment through their bank or financial institution, or by check (through the mail). Leroy will also remind the class that they can check their listed beneficiary by emailing or calling Secretary McDonough (markmac825@comcast.net, 415 681-3660).
Good of the Order: No report this month.
Adjournment: President Centurioni led our Board in a moment of silence for our fallen members. President Centurioni scheduled our next meeting for Tuesday November 14, 2017. The meeting will be held at 850 Bryant Street in the Traffic section of the Hall of Justice at 1 pm.
To All: Please visit our website at sfwidowsandorphans.org. Members can access beneficiary forms for any needed changes. Please click on the ‘Resources’ box on our face page. Print and complete the form. A new beneficiary change requires a signature by a Notary, or WOAA Board Member. Please use this form for any address or contact changes. Address and contact number changes do not require a signature by a Notary or Board Member. Each year we discover that various members have changed their address and contact numbers, and have NOT notified the WOAA. This lack of notification creates problems in our yearly billing. We must then conduct investigative efforts to find the member. If the member does not use the automatic payment method(s), they become delinquent and are subsequently suspended and often dropped from the roll. Please assist our efforts by notifying us of any necessary changes. We express our thanks and gratitude each month to the following men and women who greatly assist our organization each month: Thank you to retired S.F.P.D. Captain and currently the POA Defense Administrator Paul Chignell, David Ng of Personnel, Risa Tom and Sgt. Rachael Kilshaw of the Police Commission Office, retired Traffic Solo and the current and long-standing editor of the POA Journal Ray Shine, retired S.F.P.D. Lieutenant and website host of the Gold Country Reaper Rene LaPrevotte, and finally to the entire Traffic Solo Company who graciously affords us office space for our files, and a room to hold our monthly meetings.
Mark J. McDonough
WOAA Secretary