Donald Reeves Green
Donald Reeves Green was born on November 25, 1939, to the late Reverend Willie Julius Green and Thelma Hambrick in Natural Bridge, VA. More specifically he was born in the basement of the Pentecostal Holiness Church built by his father.
Don was always mechanically inclined, but not always successfully. One of the earliest stories his mother told about him started with a drive through the mountains of Virginia. Curious Donald decided to play with the handle of the rear door and managed to jostle it open. He then managed to fall out of the moving vehicle and roll down the side of the mountain. It remains unclear what impact this had on his later years, but he would return to the mountains of Virginia.
During World War II, Don’s father served as a hospital ship chaplain, and he and his mother lived at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, GA. After the war, his family moved to Memphis, and Don continued his mechanical adventures with his first motorized vehicle, a red Cushman motor scooter. He was a sight to behold in his jeans and white loafers with his coal black hair swept back into a ducktail. While in Memphis, he ushered at the city auditorium and got to meet a local sensation, Elvis Presley.
His father was transferred to the VA hospital in Richmond, and Don was old enough to get a car. He drove a 1952 Ford and had the remarkable ability to coast into the driveway with absolutely no gas left in the tank, not even enough to start the engine. At Manchester High School in Richmond, Don met Sandra Chandler. They married after graduation and began their family. They built a home in Richmond, and then added a summer home on the banks of the Rappahannock River.
Richmond was left behind when his job at Reynolds Metals sent him to Tampa. More moves took them to California and finally to Houston. Later adventures found him in the desert as a demolition expert, in oil fields in the Middle East, back on the beach in Florida, in Yellowstone Montana (in the winter), building an organic garden at a Colorado dude ranch, serving ice cream at a bluegrass festival on a Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, and exploring cliff dwellings in the southwest.
In 1981, Don met and married Patricia Drake Butler of Marietta, GA. They moved to Florida and lived out their dream of life on the bay until her death in 2001. At the age of 73, Don found his way back to the mountains of Virginia. He hiked the Appalachian Trail for two months, an adventure and an accomplishment of a lifetime. Finally, he was drawn back to Houston – home of his three children, Kelly, Mark, and Brad – the lights of his life. Here is where he lived out his most cherished adventure, that of Grandpa Green aka “GPG” to ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
In most recent years, Don could be found working in the garden of his Houston home with his faithful Shih Tzu, Willie Nelson, likely sporting a witty t-shirt with a bowl of chocolate ice cream not too far away. Don is survived by his brother, Douglas Lee Green and sister-in-law Jane Basnight Green, of Richmond, VA; his three children Kelly Green Sheehy and son-in-law Butch Sheehy of Clear Lake, TX; Mark Green and daughter-in-law Nicole Badura Green of Kingwood, TX; Brad Green and daughter-in-law Vera DeCintio Green of Clear Lake, TX; and stepson Tommy Butler of Conroe, TX. He will be dearly missed by his grandchildren Blake Sebastian and wife Jordyn DiGulio Sebastian; Reagan and Kendall Sheehy; Rhett, Beau, and Skylar Green; Garret, and Emma Green; Josh Butler; Madison Butler; and great-grandchildren, Luca Sebastian and Ryder Green.
A visitation will be held at Crowder Funeral Home in Webster on Tuesday, November 19th, from 6-8pm. Don will be buried next to Tricia in Freeport, FL. The family would love to hear any memories of Don in the comments below.
Over the last few years Don and I have had lots of fun and a ton of laughs! Your story of him cruising with a DA, reminded me of the story he shared of the time he went to pick a young lady up for a date. I believe he was in high school. As he was walking to the door, he realized he couldn’t remember the girl’s name. Being quick-witted, he told the man who answered the door, ‘I’m here to pick up your daughter.’ Being even more quick-witted, the man sent out his 5 year old!! Don laughed to tears telling me that story! One time when I was chatting with Willie, he commented,’ya gotta love a person who talks to a dog!’ I’ve found that advice, along with so much more that he shared with me, has served me well in life.
Emma had asked me to tell Don we need him to ‘hang around just a little longer’. Of course, by that we mean another life time. And that still would not be long enough.
May your memories of his smile and of the sound of his laughter wrap all of you in His peace and comfort
He certainly loved you and Emma and was so excited for her when she started college at A&M. He talked about both of you often ❤️
I loved reading this. My memory of Don (Mr. Green) is of how big his personality was. He was a character and loved life and new experiences.
We first met Don on our the first day after buying our home next to his 4 years ago. We were in the back yard with the real estate agent who was showing us how to use the sprinkler system. We heard someone coming up quickly along the side of the house and suddenly Don appeared-no shirt, no shoes, just shorts. He was all in a huff. He wanted to tell us that the lady who formerly owned our house always accused him of being the cause of water building up in the street, but that it was actually because of her and her sprinkler system!! I said that that was good to know. And then he left. I told my husband “Uh oh, we might have a crazy neighbor.” Well, in a sense, it was true. But in a good sense. Don had a great sense of humor and that twinkle in his eye that he was about to get into some mischief. He was very sweet to us. He and his dog, Willie Nelson, made quite the pair. He was a good neighbor and he will be sorely missed.
Old Don was a great soul and was always in a pretty good mood. He amazed me when my mom passed away some years back. He made me a great stew in a crockpot and bought the whole thing over to me and my wife Dana, crockpot and all! He had such a great heart and I will never forget what he did for me that day. I would be in my garage early in the morning and almost every morning he will be walking Willy out to the park. He and Willy walked in that park all the time, mornings and evenings. I really loved going over to his house and sitting in his back deck looking at his tomato plants and he could grow some big tomatoes! He was an amazing man.We’ve lost a good neighbor and a good friend.
Don was a true friend through the many years. We met at Reynolds in 1969. We hunted Colorado together a few times, the hill country here in Texas, we duck and dove hunted all over. We fished anywhere it was legal and jumped a few fences to borrow fish from well hidden stocked ponds. We partnered LASERs for land leveling in the El Paso area. Most local bars in anywhere we stayed or visited a few times knew us by our first name because we had fun. We laughed a lot. I knew something was wrong when I stopped getting our very frequent emails. I called and I was told he had no time left. I miss my friend as much as I miss my wife, Billye, who passed Nov 19, 2015. I have just found this page. Sorry I’m late Don but you and The Lord know I loved you like a brother.😇🙏🌹🇺🇸
He shared many stories of the fun he had throughout his life. Michael, while he didn’t give any names, I’m sure you were the partner is many of his stories! He was one of a kind!!
Just googled Don and found this. I had no idea.
What a fun time I had with him. He will be missed.
Prayers to lift your memory up…you dedicated Wave on Wave to me and told me you loved and where in love with me…your children naturally wanted to protect their best interests and that is fine with me; I got your heart.