Greco, Leo Louis

Leo Louis Greco, 89, of Cedar Rapids, died Tuesday, August 2, 2011, at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House surrounded by his family. Funeral Mass: 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Matthew Catholic Church by the Rev. David Beckman, the Rev. Mark Osterhaus, the Rev. Gerald Condon, the Rev. Fred Fangman and the Rev. Steve Rosonke. Entombment: Mount Calvary Cemetery with military honors. A visitation will be held at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home Friday from 3 to 8 p.m. and after 10 a.m. Saturday at the church.

Leo was born in Oelwein, Iowa, to Dominic and Mary Napoli Greco on Nov. 1, 1921. He served proudly in the U.S. Navy and was aboard the USS Luce on May 4, 1945, when the ship was sunk by Kamikaze planes off the coast of Okinawa. He married Louise Dugger of Oran, Iowa, on August 5, 1945, and they lived happily together until her death in January 2008. They had five children, Larry (Judy), Linda Greco-Sanders (Michael), Lou Ann Heng (Frank), Lisa Rehman (Jeff) and Lance (Liesa), nine grandchildren, Ben (Jen) Greco, Andy (Sandy) Greco parents of great-grandchild Aaron, Kati and Daniel Heng, Alex and Leo Rehman, and Callista, Gabriel and Asa Greco.

Leo began his lifelong career as a musician and entertainer at age 15. His band, Leo and the Pioneers, sponsored by Kent Feeds, traveled 10 states entertaining people with their wide variety of music for more than 20 years. Leo began working at WMT radio in 1971. His radio program, “Variety Time,” has been on the air for 38 years. “Service to others” was his motto. An honorary board member of Camp Courageous, he worked faithfully to promote their mission, as a recreational facility for individuals with disabilities. He also helped initiate the collection of pop can tabs to raise significant funds for the Shriner's Transportation Fund. He was an avid mall walker and cribbage competitor at Lindale Mall and had a close group of friends there.

In addition to Louise, he was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Arlene and Theresa; and brother, Lou.

Surviving siblings include his sister, Rose Ratchford of Waterloo; and brothers, John (Ella) of Oelwein, and Pete (Mary Lou) of Maynard.

He was a friend to everyone he met and will be dearly missed by those who loved him. Memorial donations may be made to Camp Courageous of Iowa in Monticello or to St. Matthew Church, Cedar Rapids.

When asked to sum up his life, Leo said “Say he served the Lord well and wants to thank everybody who has been so nice to him over the years.”

The Greco family would like to thank the compassionate caregivers at Hospice House of Mercy, the many doctors and staff at Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Tim Sagers and his staff, as well as Dr. Steven Beevers, Dr. David Rater, Dr. Todd Walker and many other caring medical personnel.

An online tribute to Leo is at and online condolences may be sent to .