Richard Grecco

Richard Michael Grecco, 25, of Rossville, a lifelong Staten Islander remembered for his smile and winning personality, died Saturday of complications of pneumonia in the Staten Island University
Hospital, in Ocean Breeze.

Born in Westerleigh, he moved with his parents to Rossville when he was a year old.

Mr. Grecco made national news in 1988, when he was two weeks old and underwent a liver transplant at Children's Hospital, Pittsburgh, to correct a rare congenital liver disease. At the time he was the youngest person to have had the delicate surgery.

He graduated from the Hungerford School annex at New Dorp High School.

At the time of his death Mr. Grecco was a day client of On Your Mark, and also participated in recreational activities sponsored by Rainbow's Hope-Make A Wish Foundation.

In 2009 he was among several young people honored for community service by Community Board 2.

His personality was amazing. He constantly had a smile on his face; people were just drawn to him. He loved life, said his aunt, Maria Grecco.

Mr. Grecco enjoyed listening to music, including his favorite song, Empire State of Mind sung by Alicia Keys. He also loved watching television, swimming, going on family vacations and riding around the neighborhood in his dad's Corvette convertible.

Surviving are his parents, Sabrina and Richard Grecco; his brothers, Christopher and Matthew; a sister, Samantha Grecco; his maternal grandmother, Maria Ferlazzo, and his paternal grandparents, Josephine and Thomas Grecco.

The funeral will be Wednesday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville, with a mass at 10:30 a.m. in St. Thomas the Apostle R.C. Church, Pleasant Plains. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, also Pleasant Plains.

Services: St. Thomas the Apostle RC Church Wednesday, August 7,2013 10:30AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Monday, August 5,2013 7-9PM & Tuesday, August 6,2013 2-4 & 7-9PM

Memorials: In lieu of flowers contributions in Richie's name to Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute Development Department, Forbes Tower Suite 8084 3600 Forbes Avenue at Meyran Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213, would be appreciated

Cemetery: Resurrection Cemetery (Staten Island)

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: St. Thomas The Apostle RC Church