Angelo Greco

Angelo S. Greco, 86, of Cut Bank passed away Monday, December 1, 2014 at Benefis Hospital in Gt. Falls.

A memorial service will be held at 1 pm on December 13 at the Shelby Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses; a reception will follow.  Arrangements have been entrusted to Whitted Funeral Chapel. Please visit Angelo’s online memorial and leave a message of condolence at www.whittedfuneralchapel.com.

Angelo was born in Kalispell on March 25, 1928 to Domenico and Maria (Dastoli) Greco.  He graduated from Flathead High School in 1947 and married the love of his life, Eleanor Hawkins on October 10, 1951; they were married 61 years.  Angelo began learning the baking trade at the age of 15.  He then went on to work as a telegrapher for the railroad for a short period; due to advancing technologies and automation he found there was no future for him there, so he bought his bakery in Browning in 1955.  In 1983 Angelo opened Greco’s Bakery & Restaurant in Cut Bank, which he operated with his wife & son until he decided it was time to retire after 40 years in the bakery & food industry.

In his “retirement” years Angelo worked with the local 4-H Food Booth committee members to help manage the food booth during the Marias 4-County Fair; where he loved sharing his food expertise with the youth of Glacier, Toole, Liberty, and Pondera counties.

Angelo loved kids and enjoyed sports, so for many years he combined those two loves by serving as a referee at local basketball games.  Angelo had several memorable moments while refereeing.  One happened shortly after he first started; it was his first time to throw the jump ball to start the game.  He was a little nervous and his first attempt was a little short; the other referee told him he needed to throw it a lot higher, so he did, all the way to the ceiling.  As two young players stood there waiting for the ball to come back down, the other referee was laughing so hard he couldn’t even blow his whistle.  With everyone in laughter, they finally managed to stop the game and at that point they decided it was better to let the other referee throw the ball to start the game.  Angelo only called one technical foul in his time as a referee.  It was during a JV game and one of the coaches was angry and gave Angelo a hard time for calling the foul.  The head coach for the team came over and told his assistant coach to calm down.  He said that Browning was the one place in the conference that we are always treated fairly, and that was because of Angelo and his belief in always treating everyone equally and with respect.  Angelo’s kind and caring manner is something we will all remember.

One of the main highlights of Angelo’s life was becoming a grandfather and he thoroughly enjoyed every moment spent with his grandson Brandon.  Angelo was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses on October 10, 2010 and was a faithful member of the Shelby Congregation.

Survivors include his son Fred (Jamie) Greco and grandson Brandon Greco all of Cut Bank; brother, Orly Greco of Napa, CA; brother-in-law, Harvey (Kenda) Hawkins of Kalispell; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.  Angelo was preceded in death by his wife Eleanor; his parents; sisters, Frances Durado, Kay Viano, and Laura Rattabaugh; and his brother, Frank Greco.