George Henry Greene

George Henry Greene March 17, 1926- June 7, 2022 Wenatchee, Washington George Henry Greene Obituary George Henry Greene - husband (72 years), father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend passed away on Tuesday, June 7th, 2022, in Wenatchee due to complications from pneumonia. George had been cared for at home in Wenatchee for the last 4 years. He was also suffering from dementia which was slowly progressing until his death. George was 96 years old and quite a "character". He brightened the lives of his family and those who knew and loved him throughout his 96 years on earth. The family would like to send out a huge THANK YOU to the 5 primary caregivers that provided care for George over the last 3-to 4 years of his life. They are Candy Reynaga, Marco Ramos, Shaun Magruder, Jose Garcia, and Kevin Marchand. Without their wonderful compassionate care for George, we would not have been able to grant George's wish to be at home rather than at a care home. Our family owes a huge debt of gratitude to these wonderful caregivers! Thank you as well to Tony Sandoval, the Chelan County Veteran's advocate, who helped us immensely to get the VA help we needed. We'd also like to thank nurse Michelle Bleu, Dr. Kevin Molander, Tom Reser, and all the other health and social workers at the VA. They helped the family immensely over the past 4 years. Dr. Petr Slapnicka, Sandy Larsen of Aging and Adult Care, and our local Knights of Columbus in Wenatchee were incredibly helpful with the care of George over the past four years. George was born in Montello, Nevada on St. Patrick's Day March 17, 1926, to George and Mable Greene. George's dad, George Henry Greene, was also born on March 17th, but in1885. George's dad was a gold miner, and the family was always moving from place-to-place mining for gold. At the age of six, George caught pneumonia and was hospitalized with it. His father, George, came down with pneumonia at the same time and sadly passed away from it on March 17, 1932. His mother, Mable, was hospitalized prior to this time at an institution in southern California where she remained for the next 50 years. Young George was raised by his sisters, Geri, and Rosemary during those early days. He had another older sister, Roberta, a younger sister Darette, and an older brother Howard that also worked the mines. When things got really tough in the early 30s, the mine was sold and the sisters and George walked out of the mine to Nipton, Nevada which was about 20-30 miles away where they lived in an abandoned house for a time. The family then moved to Southern California, then to Medford, Oregon, and finally back to Southern California when George was about 13 and in the 8th grade. At that time, the local high school track coach saw George playing football and running track at Sturgis Jr. High School in San Bernardino, CA. The coach asked George if he would be willing to join the high school track team and run for them even though he was still only in the 8th grade. George accepted the invitation from the coach and ended up beating the entire varsity high school track team in the 100-yard dash! George went on to later set a school record in the 100-yard dash of 9.9 seconds. To compare, Jesse Owens, the famed Olympian who won 4 gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games had a personal lifetime best time of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard dash. The Greene family wonders what George's life would have been like if he had chosen to stay with competitive track for the next 10 years. George got a job at Arrowhead Magazine Company in 1941 as a magazine delivery truck driver so that he could support himself. He ended up running the company as the General Manager after 46 years of employment with Arrowhead. He served in World War II in the Navy from 1944 till 1946. He was a yeoman for the admiral at John Rogers Airbase in Hawaii. George "volunteered" to join the service as he chose to go into the military rather than reform school due to the "mischief" he got himself into. In 1950, George married Laura Lee Morrison (Greene). They had a son, Mark, in 1952 and a son, Kenny, in 1955. George and his family did everything together. Fishing, hunting, camping, coaching baseball, and visiting Southern California horse racing tracks were some of the family favorites. George also had a love for the game of poker and made many friends over all the years of his life playing poker. His biggest love was his family. His family members were his best friends and greatest loves. This love for family continued with his grandkids and great-grandkids. The family thinks that since George had a very little parental upbringing in his youth, it made him value his own family all the more. He lit up when the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids were with him. He loved to play with them and always tried to "stir the pot" to engage with each of them. George is survived by his wife of 72 years, Laura Lee Greene, his son, Mark (Trish) Greene, his son, Kenny (Sari) Greene, and his 4 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. He also is survived by numerous nieces, nephews, and their children and grandchildren. A graveside service will be held at Evergreen Cemetery in East Wenatchee on Monday, June 20th at 10:00 a.m. All of George's family and friends are invited to attend. Feel free to come in casual attire as that is what George preferred. There will be a lunch provided at 12:00 noon following the ceremony with the location to be announced at the funeral. In lieu of flowers, a memorial contribution may be made in George's name to NCW Vets Helping Vets at 1250 N. Wenatchee Ave. Ste. H #266, Wenatchee, WA. 98801 OR to the Shriner's Hospital for Kids-Spokane via the lovetotherescue.org memorial contribution page. There's never been a family more blessed than ours to have had our outgoing, fun-loving George Greene as the patriarch of our family all these years. He will be missed dearly by his family and by the ones who knew him best throughout his life. Arrangements are in the care of Heritage Memorial Chapel East Wenatchee and Cashmere.

George Henry Greene

March 17, 1926 - June 7, 2022