In Memory of

Ralph

Pepe

Obituary for Ralph Pepe

REAL ESTATE Manager Ralph Pepe has worked 40 years at DC 37.

Pepe managed the three properties owned by the union, the Dental Center on Chambers Street in Manhattan, the Podiatry Center in Brooklyn, and union headquarters at 125 Barclay St., where more than 600 employees work on 11 floors.

Pepe supervised the security, maintenance and cleaning personnel at all of the properties.

After the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, when union headquarters remained closed for several months, Pepe quickly set to work on the effort to set up union staff in offices around the city so they could continue working and providing services for members.

When Superstorm Sandy damaged the basement and rendered the building uninhabitable for nine months, Pepe and his staff, Building Superintendent Al Locascio, now deceased, and then-Handyman Frank Morales, who is now superintendent, worked around the clock with the contractors helping with repairs.

"Ralph was a very determined person," said Morales, as he recalled the storm damage.

A native New Yorker raised in Brooklyn, Pepe had his own style of filing, coworkers affectionately recalled. The stack of papers on his desk was a foot high, but he claimed he knew where everything was.

"It's true," said John Hardisty, an activist with the DC 37 Retirees Association. "I've seen him go through the papers looking for a receipt or a contract and he would find it."