Obituary
JOSEPH ROBERT GRECO
Attorney
Joseph Robert Greco, former Hamden (CT) Town counsel, died peacefully in
Stuart, FL on October 17, 2022.
Born
on August 11, 1927 in New Haven, CT, he was the son of Joseph Ralph Greco and
Carmela Anquillare Greco. He attended
the Hamden public schools and graduated from Hamden High School with the class
of 1945. Although only seventeen years
old, he volunteered for enlistment in the U.S. Navy and served as a Seaman
aboard the USS Mercer until the end of World War II. He then matriculated at the University of
Miami where he met his future wife, Claire Gulotti. They were married in Coral Gables, FL on
October 27, 1951. Claire survives him,
along with their four children: Lisa Greco, Esq. of Palm City, FL, James J.
Greco, Esq. of Delray Beach, FL, John J. Greco, MD of Huntsville, AL and
Suellen Greco, DVM of St. Louis, MO.
The
University of Miami awarded Attorney Greco a Bachelor’s Degree in Business
Administration with dual majors in Economics and Accounting in 1950. He received an L.L.B. degree from the
University of Miami School of Law on June 10, 1953 at which time he was
admitted to the Florida Bar. Thereafter
he was associated with the law firm of Turner, Hendrick & Fascell in Coral
Gables and continued to be actively engaged in the practice of law for
sixty-six years until he finally retired on January 1, 2019.
Attorney
Greco moved his small family to Hamden in 1954 for the purpose of founding his
own law firm. He became a member of the
Connecticut Bar and met and became associated with his mentor, Judge James P.
Doherty. They formed the law firm of
Doherty & Greco which was to become quite successful and well known. In 1957 he was retained by the Town of Hamden
as Special Counsel to create a retirement plan for Town employees. The resulting plan was the first to provide
incentives to the employees for continuing education that would improve their
employment status. In 1958 he became the
Town Prosecutor and in 1963 he was appointed to serve as a member of the Hamden
Board of Education. He was appointed
Chairman of the Town of Hamden Charter Revision Committee in 1965 and guided
the proposed new Charter through the Legislative Counsel approval process.
In
1967 Attorney Greco was appointed Hamden Town Attorney by incoming Mayor
William M. Adams and served in that capacity until 1973, which was longer than
any of his predecessors in the post.
Upon assuming this position he established, for the first time in the
history of the town, an office in the Town Hall to accommodate himself, his
three Assistant Town Attorneys and the office staff. Previously the Legal Department had been
scattered in several locations. At the
same time, he chaired the Town Beautification Committee which, among many other
projects, accomplished a major change of the façade of the Town Hall, the
renovation of the iconic cupola at the Hamden High School with the addition of
lighting, the replacement of two abandoned gasoline filling stations with
mini-parks and the replacement of asphalt sidewalks with concrete.
An
aviation enthusiast, he was a pilot with several hundred hours of airtime. He joined the Civil Air Patrol and rose to the
rank of Major. He continued to practice
law in Hamden until 1985 at which time he returned to Miami, later moving to
Palm City, FL, and concentrated in Mediation and Arbitration matters. In 1992 he was certified by the State of
Florida as a Circuit Civil Mediator and later became one of the first
Arbitrators in the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Florida. Once established in Palm City,
he served as a volunteer pro bono attorney for Florida Rural Legal
Services from 2012 to 2017 and provided legal assistance at no cost to
qualified individuals.
In
addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his daughters-in-law,
Valerie Greco and Cara Greco, MD and his son-in-law Dan Berglund. Also surviving are his seven grandchildren:
J. Peter Greco, Esq., Lt. Samuel A. Greco, USN, Esq., Grace N. Greco, Esq.,
Elise M. Greco, Joseph Cole Greco, Joseph Renard Berglund and Lucia Claire
Greco. He was predeceased by his sister,
Rose Marie Dextradeur, and son-in-law, George M. Fasanella, Esq.
A
Memorial Mass will be celebrated at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Palm City
on Monday, October 24, 2022 at 10:00 AM.
A luncheon reception will immediately follow at Monarch Country Club in
Palm City.