I had always considered Teddy as a brother, and he was very close to our family for a lifetime. We grew up together in Fort Lee, NJ, and even lived on the same street McCloud Drive for a number of years before he moved. His father was the Police Chief and mine was the Commissioner, and together they were a force for good, keeping our town safe and secure in the 1950's through the early 70's. We attended countless celebrations together including parades, picnics, parties, and political events. Our families were intertwined in numerous ways by common interests, friends, and belonging to the Madonna Parish.
When his parents Teddy Sr. and Mary bought a house at Normandy Beach when I was a lad, we were frequent welcome guests until my folks Lucy and Bal purchased one just blocks away. We still dropped by regularly with an open-door policy and joined in each other's many parties. We also attended and adopted Our Lady Queen of Peace Church as our seasonal parish. I was like the related third wheel with Teddy Jr. and his brother Jimmy as we were known to pal around together as testy youths. My sister Jacqui often came along for the ride to make it a sassy friendly foursome. As time went on and I pursued my Traveling Troubadour lifestyle, I would see Teddy when visiting my mom and dad at the shore, and we would catch-up a bit on old times with a few laughs. When my wife Barbara Jean and I had our daughter Avellina Christened at Queen of Peace, we had Chief Grieco as the honorable representative for my father who had since passed away, and Teddy Jr. was present to add his well wishes. My brothers Bob and Don also continued a friendship with Teddy Jr. at Normandy Beach, sharing his enthusiastic and demonstrative stories that their family was famous for.

Our sincere condolences to Georgianna his loving wife and their boys. May the all-merciful Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary take Ted by the hand and lead him into eternal rest in peace.

With love and continued prayers,
Bruce Robert Balestri and Family