Eleanor Catherine (Bird) Green

Eleanor, born in Seattle on December 17, 1917, died with her family beside her in Kirkland on July 14, 2012, age 94. Her parents were A. Frank and Esther Bird. After Seattle’s Roosevelt High School, she earned a degree in Sociology from the University of Washington in 1939, where she participated in Delta Delta Delta, the YWCA, and student government, serving as president of the Associated Women Students. Most importantly, she met Ron Green at the Varsity Ball during their freshman year. They married in December, 1939 and settled in Ron’s hometown of Bothell. Following work for the UW ticket office, she devoted herself to home and community life. After Ron joined the Army Air Corps, Eleanor joined him in Hondo, Texas. In Bothell after the war, they kept busy with the family Ford agency and expanding the house to provide room for growing children. In the mid-1960s, Eleanor became Director of Volunteers at Harborview Hospital, then Community Resource Coordinator at the Women’s Prison in Purdy. Retiring in 1980, she and Ron returned to Bothell. Beginning in 1999, they enjoyed living at Brittany Park in Woodinville. After Ron’s death two years ago, Eleanor moved to the Golden Spirit Adult Family Home in Kirkland, where she lived with grace and gratitude.A lifelong believer in civic responsibility and public education, Eleanor helped to found a community cooperative pre-school in the late 1940s and won awards for serving on the Citizens’ Committee and the Recreation Coordinating Council. In the early 1960s, she led a Horizon Club (Camp Fire) group of high school girls, the Bothell Horizon Pioneers. She and Ron served as church historians and as hosts at the Bothell Historical Museum. They helped compile and publish A Slough of Memories, a book of personal accounts of Bothell-Kenmore-Woodinville history. Their interest in international friendships brought frequent guests from abroad into their home, and they traveled extensively during their retirement years. Survivors are her children Ron Green, Jr. (Claudia), Bothell; Janet Hunter (Richard) San Diego; and Darrell Green (Pam), Redmond, and eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She is also survived by two dear exchange student “daughters,” Yoko Ueyama Shiga, Japan, and Ursula Mielke-Hoelscher, Germany. Granddaughter Karen Hunter predeceased her. Ron, her beloved husband of 70 years, died in 2010. A memorial service was held on August 13 at the Bothell United Methodist Church, where Eleanor was an active member for over 70 years. The family suggests memorial gifts to either the Bothell United Methodist Church , 18515 92nd Ave N.E., Bothell, WA 98011; or the Eleanor Bird Green Fund, Camp Fire Central Puget Sound, 4241 21st Avenue West, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98199-1250.http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3451819/Eleanor_Green.html

667792 Photo by Cory Parris