ROBERT A. GREENE
Feb. 4, 1936-June 11, 2010
SHERRILLS FORD -- Bob Greene lost his battle with cancer and dementia, and went home to be with the Lord Friday, June 11, 2010.
He was born in Princeton, N.C., Feb. 4, 1936.
He grew up in Goldsboro, N.C., and excelled in sports while attending Goldsboro High. He was an honor student, and he earned letters in football, basketball and tennis. During his junior year, Bob and his tennis partner won the 1953 State Doubles Tennis Championship, and his senior year was voted MVP of the football team.
In 1954, he attended North Carolina State College in Raleigh and pursued a degree in engineering. During the summer break of 1956, he worked at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. in Virginia. He would tell you proudly that he was part of the team that designed the piping for the USS Enterprise, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which was under construction at the shipyard.
It was that summer, he met his beloved Dee. He dropped out of college after his fall semester, and they were married June 23, 1957.
He then returned to the shipyard. Twelve years later, the shipyard awarded Bob a full scholarship to complete his education. He moved his family to Raleigh, N.C., where he attended North Carolina State University. Bob earned his BSME degree in 1969 and his master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1970.
After graduation, he returned to the shipyard for several years.
Later he worked in the pulp and paper industry for C.T. Main and Sandwell engineering firms in Charlotte.
He obtained his professional engineering license and was registered in six states.
Bob was a member of Pi Tau Sigma Honorary Mechanical Engineering Fraternity and a brother in Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. Bob's fraternity brothers were very special to him with many of those friendships lasted his entire life.
After retirement in 1995, the couple moved to their summer home at Lake Norman.
He became a devoted and active member of Rehobeth United Methodist Church.
Volunteer mission work soon became a passion with the Greenes, and this ministry took them to help flood victims rebuild in Tarboro and Clyde, N.C., and with the RUMC youth group's mission work in West Virginia and Alabama. They helped build churches in Alaska, Puerto Rico and Chile.
The Greenes were avid North Carolina State University Wolfpack fans, and loved attending Pack bowl games. One of their most memorable Wolfpack events was the thrill of being at the 1983 NCAA Basketball Championship game in Albuquerque, N.M., with North Carolina State University taking the title.
They were Panthers fans and PSL owners for many years. He loved sports, watching and playing. He loved to play pickup basketball, especially with his grandson, Bo.
Children were so special to Bob, and he loved playing games with them.
Bob was a charmingly handsome man with a disarming smile. He had a great sense of humor and loved to make people laugh. His favorite pastimes were telling jokes, shooting pool, playing spades with Fran and Gary and taping movies. He was also an excellent bridge and poker player.
The Greene's loved to travel and cruise to foreign countries.
Bob loved music and played the piano. He could not read a single note of music, but if he knew the tune, he could play the song.
He was preceded in death by his father, George A. Greene; his mother, Helen Eatman Greene; and his sister, Mary Ann Greene Tyler.
Bob was a true prince, a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and mentor. He was dearly loved by his family and friends and will be missed.
Survivors include his loving wife of 53 years, Norma Hefner "Dee" Greene; daughter, Joy B. Greene of Conover, N.C.; son, Robert Jr. and wife, Debbie, of Charleston, S.C.; grandchildren, Robert A. Greene III and wife, Deanna Davis, of Beacon, N.Y., Jamie L. Greene of Waxhaw, N.C., Danielle Greene Schorr and husband, Houston, of Stallings, N.C., and Alli Greene of Charleston, S.C.; great-grandchildren, Ella Davis-Greene, Wilke Davis-Greene and Emmalee Schorr; beloved nieces and nephews; the precious children who called Bob and Dee "grandma and grandpa Greene;" extended family members; and a host of friends and loved ones.
A "remembering Bob" celebration of life service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 19, 2010, at Rehobeth United Methodist church in Terrell, N.C., with the Rev. Dr. J. Edward Maddox and the Rev. Dr. Robert L. Kerrl officiating.
The family will receive friends from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. at the church. Internment will be at the church cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Rehobeth United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 356, Terrell, N.C., 28682, or Palliative CareCenter and Hospice of Catawba County, 3975 Robinson Road, Newton, N.C., 28658.
The family would like to thank the Rehobeth United Methodist Church family for their love and support during his illness. The family would also like to thank the "angels" who assisted him at the Rehobeth Wellness Program, the doctors and nurses of the Mecklenburg Medical Group and Fusion Lab, CMC Main, Mercy and Lincoln, Catawba County Home Health Care and the Palliative CareCenter and Hospice of Catawba Valley. God bless you all.
Condolences may be sent to the Greene family at www.drumfuneralhome.com.
The Greene family has entrusted the funeral arrangements to Willis-Reynolds Funeral Home & Crematory in Newton.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on June 16, 2010 1:47 PM