Rocco Mario Greco, 86, passed away peacefully at home in Gold River on October 6, 2019, surrounded by his loving family. Rocco was a second generation American who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on 1/20/1933 and moved to Sacramento in 1970. In his early years, Rocco worked in his parents' grocery store before he joined the US Air Force and participated in the Korean conflict until 1953. Once he completed his service obligation, Rocco returned to Minnesota where he met and married Barbara, his first wife, and they had four children together. Later, Rocco decided to move west, and after his arrival in California, he settled in Santa Monica and became engaged in the automotive sales industry. Following the death of his father, Rocco returned to Minnesota to run the family grocery business. In 1970, he moved back to California and permanently settled in the Sacramento area. He resumed his career in automobile sales and became the sales manager at Suburban Ford during the 1970's. In 1983, Rocco opened a used car dealership in South Sacramento, and built that business into a very successful enterprise. He worked hard on behalf of the sales industry and was active in organizations which fostered the advancement of best practices in used car sales. In 1990, he met Kay Marlowe and after a long courtship, they were wed in 2003. Rocco was preceded in death by both his parents, Mario and Josephine. He is survived by his wife, Kay, his sons, Stephen and Anthony and his daughters, Evelyn, Breanna, Deena, and Chelsea. He is also survived by grandchildren Jamie and Brett Reagan, Christopher and Daniel Sullivan, Emily (Nelson) and Michael Greco, Melody and Robert Cole, Kelly and Evan Greco, and Eric and Marc Brown. Rocco made many friends and associates through his years in the automobile sales industry and was a devoted family man. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, and his legacy will live on through the memories of those he touched during his lifetime. A private memorial for family and friends will be held on October 13th. Any donations in Rocco's name should be made to the .
Published in The Sacramento Bee from Oct. 10 to Oct. 11, 2019
