William F. Giangreco, Former manager of several upscale Chicago area hotels died
Matthew Kruk
Former manager of several upscale Chicago area hotels died
By Maureen O'Donnell
modo...@suntimes.com
Last Modified: Jan 24, 2011 09:45PM
William F. Giangreco started his career in the hotel business as a
13-year-old shoeshine boy but wound up managing some of the finest
hotels in Chicago.
His charisma and attention to detail made him a natural at his job. Mr.
Giangreco could simultaneously check all the little things that elevate
a hotel from a place to flop to a refuge from reality. With one glance,
he would make sure the bellboys looked spiffy; the carpet was clean, and
the flowers were fresh.
Always suave, "He was like a mixture between Donald Trump and James
Bond," said his son, David.
He knew the hotel business is built on hope and a promise - that a good
night's sleep, tasty food, and a strong drink go a long way toward
uncreasing a traveler's brow. But courtesy was No. 1. If he saw a
staffer being less than polite to a guest, Mr. Giangreco would set them
straight. "He ran a tight ship," said his daughter, Kathy.
Mr. Giangreco, 84, died Jan. 18 at Rainbow Hospice Ark in Park Ridge. He'd
danced with World War II pin-up Betty Grable; rubbed shoulders with
President Harry Truman, and -- before he was president -- actor Ronald
Reagan. He'd entered a boxing ring with Carmen Basilio -- a world
champion in two separate weight divisions -- and lived to talk about it.
"He lived the American dream," his son said. "He was born on the kitchen
table; held back in kindergarten because he didn't speak English. He
started as a shoeshine boy, and he ended up as the executive vice
president of some of the greatest luxury hotels in Chicago."
Mr. Giangreco was born in Auburn, New York to parents from Sicily. All
the Giangrecos worked hard. His mother, Josephine, had a job in a
factory. Bill brought her all his shoeshine tips from Auburn's Osborne
Hotel. Mr. Giangreco's father Salvatore, also a factory worker, brought
the tradition of an astoundingly productive Italian garden with him from
the Old Country. He grew tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and plum and apple
trees. Back then -- before most Americans knew them by their fancy name
of escargot -- snails were an economical protein source. "They'd buy
them by the barrel and his mother would cook them," said Mr. Giangreco's
wife, Polly.
During World War II, Mr. Giangreco served with Army engineers in
Belgium, Germany and France, helping to build bridges. After the war he
attended Samson College in upstate New York. It didn't feel like the
right fit, so he started studying other college catalogs. That's how he
first laid eyes on Polly. Her photo was in a brochure for her school,
Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks. It's a story they both loved to
tell.
"My picture was in the catalog, and he thought: 'That is a good place to
go,' '' Mrs. Giangreco said.
Mr. Giangreco studied resort management at Paul Smith's and they married
in 1950.
He worked at hotels in and around New York City, including the Hotel
Biltmore, where, as assistant manager, he "rode up an elevator with
President Harry Truman," his wife said. He also reinvigorated the Bevan
Hotel on Long Island Sound, an inn once patronized by the Barrymore
acting dynasty, but later gone to seed, his wife said. Under his
management, it was refurbished and shone anew.
He headed the Hotel Utica in New York, where he and a competing hotelier
engaged in a charity boxing match for developmentally disabled children,
"refereed" by Basilio. It was all in good fun. When the hoteliers were
in a clinch, Basilio would try and pry them apart, and then they'd turn
on Basilio, who pretended to cower. The crowd roared. At the Hotel Utica
he met Ronald Reagan, back when he hosted the TV Western "Death Valley
Days."
Mr. Giangreco's life shifted to the Midwest in 1959, when he took a
managerial job at the Oxford House, now the Hotel Monaco, 225 N. Wabash.
The Oxford House was a baseball hangout. There he met major leaguers Don
Drysdale, Nellie Fox, Jim Brosnan and Al Lopez. And, during the Chicago
Blizzard of 1967, Mr. Giangreco was stranded at the Oxford House for two
days.
The Oxford House's owner had numerous hotels, so Mr. Giangreco also
managed the Knickerbocker, the Blackstone, the Ambassador West, the
Sherman House and the Sheraton O'Hare.
World War II pin-up Betty Grable stayed at the Sheraton O'Hare in 1968
when she was appearing in "Born Yesterday" at the Mill Run Theater in
Niles. "They had a little band there, and she danced with him, and he
was an excellent dancer," his wife said. Mr. Giangreco also consulted on
the building of the Hilton hotel attached to Allgauer's Restaurant in
Northbrook, his family said.
The Giangrecos raised their children in Park Ridge. But Mr. Giangreco's
profession enabled them to have dream birthday bashes that rivalled the
carefree life of Eloise, the children's book character who lived in the
Plaza Hotel. There were big slumber parties and pool parties, complete
with shrimp cocktail, chicken kiev and parfait.
Often, Mr. Giangreco was the life of the party. Kathy recalled a
father-daughter dance at her college where he and another dad
demonstrated how to Lindy Hop. "They went out on the dance floor
together, and everybody stopped and clapped," she said.
After retiring, he worked as a starter at Billy Caldwell and Chick Evans
golf courses, where he wrangled golfers and kept them on schedule. The
job had elements of the hospitality industry, with a nice twist: "Free
golf whenever he wanted," his wife said.
He loved the music of Italian-American crooners Frank Sinatra, Dean
Martin and Tony Bennett. Mr. Giangreco was an excellent Italian cook,
turning out delicious lasagna, spaghetti sauce and veal cutlets.
He also is survived by his sister, Ida, and one grandchild.
A celebration of his life is planned 2 to 5 p.m. on March 5 at Allgauer's
Restaurant on Milwaukee Avenue in Northbrook.
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