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Thomas Steven Grecco, 72, of Mooresville, NC, passed away on Friday, December 4, 2015. He was born on December 29, 1942 in Brooklyn, NY, to the late Salvatore and Rose D’Aguino Grecco. Throughout his youth, he was a stellar athlete at SS Seward Institute in Florida, NY. Tom became a police officer on December 31st 1967. He rose to the rank of Juvenile Detective. In 1978 started the Middletown Police Department Juvenile Aid Bureau, the first in Orange County. Tom then wrote a grant request for funding to covert an old service garage next to the Middletown Police Station into what remains, The JAB Office (Juvenile Aid Bureau). With his help, the Orange County Youth Bureau was able to convince other Orange County Police Departments to establish their own Juvenile Aid Bureaus and was in the forefront of forming and innovating programs that were copied by other departments throughout the State of New York. Tom also began a program with Muppet-type puppets in which he would go into the classrooms and teach children of the danger of strangers as well as other tools to keep them safe. Dedication to child safety also encompassed the first ever program for parents of Middletown to have their child fingerprinted in the event the child would become missing. This became a priority for him after the abduction of Etan Patz in NYC in 1979. Until his retirement, Detective Grecco kept a Missing Child Poster of Etan Patz on his office bulletin board and viewed it daily. Little Etan Patz was the driving force for the fingerprinting of children for the parents to hold onto and maintain in their possession should their child become missing. It was free to all. In 1979, he started the BMX Track for kids. Tom, with the help of many volunteers and local businesses, spent countless hours, resurrected an unused vacant plot of Orange County land, located on CR-78. It was within 2 years the BMX Track would become the largest track on the East Coast, averaging approximately 350 - 400 riders per week. Kids from all over the US, Canada, Germany and Japan came to race at two Grand Nationals. For his tireless efforts and dedication with the BMX program, he received a Certificate of Merit from US Congressman Benjamin Gilman. Tom was always a steward to the citizens of Middletown. He was elected as President of the State of New York Police Juvenile Officers Association and rose to Executive Director, a position he held until 1996. Once again, he continued to help countless young children and was instrumental in rewriting training policies for the Division For Youth services. His dedication led to his nomination and selection for the prestigious Brice L. Woody Award in 1995, of which he was most proud. Later in 1995, he was selected by then Governor George E. Pataki to assist with reforming the Juvenile Justice Laws that dealt with both crimes committed by Juveniles and those committed against juveniles. His work with children extended to two elected terms to the Middletown School Board, for which he would eventually hold positions as President, Vice-President and Chairman of the Finance Committee. His service to the Middletown School Board continued for nearly 12 years. Detective Thomas Grecco served both his community and his fellow officers until his retirement in late 1999. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Alfred Grecco. Thomas is survived by his wife, Christine Sawka Grecco; children, Elizabeth Grecco-Kotronis (Jim), Thomas Joseph Grecco (Angela), Ngel Sok, Jillian Sok-Deeb (Jason); brother, Anthony Grecco (Joan); and his grandchildren, Olivia, Avery, Logan, Ava, Madison, and Corbin. Services for Tom will be held in Middletown, NY. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105 or Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.

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Thomas Steven Grecco

December 29, 1942 - December 4, 2015