Tribute to Charlie Grech
On the 9th of
Feb 2021, Charlie’s lost his battle with Cancer. He was a quiet and unassuming achiever for
all in the community.
He had been the
mainstay of the Greenvale Residents Association for many years, acting in
the role of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.
He had been a
resident of Greenvale for more than 40 years and had a passion for the
community that lives in this area. His
level of community service has been outstanding, not only with his involvement
in Greenvale, but also his many years serving the Hume City community. Some of his community achievement include:
·
Joining the
Wheatsheaf Road Traders Association, after purchasing John’s TV, in 1969.
In 1970 he was nominated their president. He held this position for 8
years.
·
From 1972
until 1978, Charlie served on the Board of Directors of the Victorian Chamber
of Commerce & Industry. He was also the president of the Broadmeadows
Chamber of Commerce from 1973 to 1975.
·
In 1978 he
was elected a councilor of the Glenroy Ward for the City Broadmeadows.
His time as councilor spanned 9 and a half years.
·
In 1980,
Charlie was instrumental in the amalgamation of the Wheatsheaf Rd Traders
Association and the Glenroy Traders to form the Glenroy Chamber of Commerce, of
which he held the position of president from 1991 – 1997.
·
Charlie
joined the Rotary Club of Broadmeadows in 1978 and never left. In his 43 years he served on all of the club’s
committees, had been President on three occasions and was active in all of the
club’s projects over many years. In 2002 he
was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship which is one of the highest awards
offered by Rotary in recognition of outstanding service to the Rotary
community. In 2010 and 2020 Charlie was awarded the Sapphire Award, which again
is one of the highest awards offered by Rotary in recognition of services and
presidency to Rotary.
·
In his time
with Rotary, Charlie was Sergeant at Arms at the District Conference in Shepparton in
2001, was a leader in programs to attract new members and was involved in a
more than three-year campaign to Save the Rotary Centre. He also played a
major role in the program to salvage as much as possible from the Rotary
building in Glenroy before its demolition in 2020.
·
Greenvale Progress Association
·
In 2003
Charlie was co-founder of the Greenvale Residents Association and for much of
his membership was president or vice president. Some of his main
achievements included:
o Duplication of Mickleham Road to Somerton Road.
o Lobbied to ensure Greenvale would have a secondary school and
o Campaigned hard to make sure land earmarked for the Greenvale secondary
school was not sold.
·
Other
community roles Charlie held included:
o 1981 to 1987 District Chairman Glenroy District Scouts
o 1982 to 1985 Glenroy Chairman Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal
o 1983 Formed Pascoe Vale Rd Action Committee
o 1993 to 1995 District Chairman Bulla District Scouts
o 1995 to 1997 District Chairman Hume District Scouts
o 1992 to 1998 Finance Committee member Good Shepherd Parish Gladstone
Park
o 1997 to 2002 Board of Directors Transitional Housing, St. Vincent De
Paul Society
o 2008 to 2012 Founder and president of Ninety Mile Beach Property Rights
group
·
In February
2020 Charlie was awarded Hume City Council Resident of The Month.
·
On Australia Day 2021, Charlie was awarded Hume City Council Senior Citizen of the Year.
The committee
wishes to offer their condolences to the Grech family.
