Ernest “Ernie” Grecco, a longtime president of the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO Council and a former member of the Maryland Racing Commission, died in his sleep on Dec. 13 at Harmony Hall in Columbia. He was 81.
Mr. Grecco grew up in an Italian household in East Baltimore with his sister and brother. His parents, Alfredo and Italia Grecco, emigrated from Italy to Baltimore, where his father worked for Baltimore City and his mother worked in textiles.
Mr. Grecco went to Mergenthaler High School but dropped out in his senior year and got his first job at 17 years old at Calvert Distilleries. He became involved in the labor movement while working there.
“Coming from a blue-class, working-class family back then, most of them worked in construction, trades or major manufacture facilities and they were all in unions,” said Ron Dijulius, Mr. Grecco’s longtime friend. “[It] was kind [of] like a fraternity, so it was a natural migration for Ernie.”
Mr. Grecco worked in different organizations around Patterson Park, where he met his wife, Dot. The couple married in 1963. They had a son and a daughter, and raised them in Cedmont in Northeast Baltimore.
“He loved his family,” said Nina Southan, Mr. Grecco’s daughter. “There was absolutely nothing my dad wouldn’t do for me. He would put his needs of his family before anything else.”
Mr. Grecco was president of the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO Council for decades before retiring in 2017. He worked as a member of the United Food & Commercial Workers, Distillery Division, Local 34-D.
He rose through the ranks to become the political director of the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO Unions, and then became the director for the Maryland State & District of Columbia AFL-CIO before being elected president of the Baltimore-area labor group.
“With his personality, he was so upfront and honest that he started to elevate up the ranks,” Dijulius said. “He was a true believer of the union movement. But he also believed that even people without a union deserve benefits to improve their lifestyle. He was a true champion.”
Mr. Grecco’s support for union workers was on display in 2004, when he was arrested during a labor protest at a Safeway supermarket in North Baltimore. According to an article in The Sun, Mr. Grecco was attempting to use pennies to purchase heart-shaped boxes of Valentine’s Day chocolates when another customer in line complained. Asked by police officers to leave, he refused and was escorted from the store, handcuffed, and taken to Central Booking.
“He was a giant in the community,” his son Gary Grecco, said. “He was a person that loved life and loved serving the working individual.”
Mr. Grecco was a member of the Baltimore Work Force Investment Board and Maryland Transportation Commission. He also served on the Maryland Racing Commission.
Additionally, he served on the United Way and Blue Cross/Blue Shield board of directors. Mr. Grecco earned two national awards for community service — the Joseph A. Beirne Award from the United Way of America and the Samuel Gompers Award from the American Red Cross.
Along with his career, Mr. Grecco loved horse racing. He served on the Maryland Racing Commission, where he was one of the few members who were not industry insiders. He also loved birdwatching and going to the racetrack at the fairgrounds in Timonium.
Mr. Grecco is survived by his son, Gary Grecco, of Hanover, Pennsylvania; his daughter, Nina Southan, of Sykesville; and four grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Dot, his sister, Virginia Cirillo, and his brother, John Grecco.
A memorial service will be held at LifePoint Church at 1701 Emory Road in Reisterstown at 11 a.m. Jan. 6.