Former School Superintendent Believed in People |
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When the third child of L. H. and Lula Greene was born on August 5, 1909, it was Lula's turn to name the baby, but she could not decide on a name. He was called by various nicknames -- the hired man chose "Moses" --before the toddler began to call himself "Bill." People would ask, "Are you still Bill?" and he would nod "Yes." When he was about five years old, his grandmother wrote, "I do hope that child has a name when I visit Pampa." When she arrived, he had been properly named "William Alston," but for the rest of his life he was still "Bill" to almost everyone who knew him. As a small boy Bill was standing on Main Street (Cuyler) one day when he was badly frightened by hearing town marshall J. M. Patton firing his pistol to sum- mon officers of the law. He was about eleven years old when he saw his older brother Bob returning with the Harvester football from a crushing defeat at Miami. As he looked at the bloody, battered players in their ragged homemade "uniforms," he wondered if he would ever want to be on the Pampa High School football team. But he was -- from 1926 until 1928 when he graduated from Pampa High School. At Pampa High School when it was at 126 West Francis, Bill met Ruth Beatrice Brown. She had come to Pampa with her parents, James Thomas and Della DeRosa DeBolt Brown, who managed a boarding house at the Shell camp west of Pampa. After her freshman year Ruth returned to Oklahoma, but Bill went to see her in Oklahoma and took her to Winfield, Kansas, with the intention of being married. Both Bill and Ruth were too young to be married and the judge sent them back to Oklahoma with proper papers for their parents to sign. After a delay of four days, Judge White married the young couple at Kansas on September 13, 1928. Upon their return to Pampa they were "shivareed" and taken to the Crystal Palace (121 North Cuyler), a confectionary operated by Jimmy Martinas, The special treat for those doing the "shivareeing" was for each one to have a malt paid for by Ruth and Bill. (A charivari is a serenade of banging saucepans and other loud noises to a newly married couple.) Bill and Ruth made their home north of Pampa and lived at the same place from 1931 until his death on October 15, 1997 and her death on March 4, 1998.
Bill was a farmer and rancher although he drove the school bus for several years. He and Ruth milked cows and sold milk, cream and butter during the depression. Ruth churned with a dasher in a ten-gallon can and sold over 400 pounds of butter and 28 quarts of cream in November and December of 1933 and in January of 1934. Bill and Ruth Greene had five children. Betty Ann Greene, born June 24, 1930, married William F. "Dunny" Goode. He was a coach and she was a teacher at Clovis, New Mexico. Betty Ann died on January 28, 2000. Richard Max Greene, born October 22, 1932, is an architect living in San Diego, California. James Lemuel Greene, born November 5, 1936, is a farmer and rancher. He and his wife, Kathleen Dodds, live on the McKamy homeplace. Jim has been Gray County Commissioner of Precinct No. 2 since January 1, 1987. William Henry "Hunky" Greene, born March 2, 1939, is also a farmer and rancher. He lives on the W. A. Greene homeplace. Nellie Beth Greene, born February 2, 1942, is a teacher at Happy. Her husband, Stanley McDonough, has retired as a game warden and they have moved to a farm near Happy.
Bill was a farmer and rancher although he drove the school bus for several years. He and Ruth milked cows and sold milk, cream and butter during the depression. Ruth churned with a dasher in a ten-gallon can and sold over 400 pounds of butter and 28 quarts of cream in November and December of 1933 and in January of 1934. Bill and Ruth Greene had five children. Betty Ann Greene, born June 24, 1930, married William F. "Dunny" Goode. He was a coach and she was a teacher at Clovis, New Mexico. Betty Ann died on January 28, 2000. Richard Max Greene, born October 22, 1932, is an architect living in San Diego, California. James Lemuel Greene, born November 5, 1936, is a farmer and rancher. He and his wife, Kathleen Dodds, live on the McKamy homeplace. Jim has been Gray County Commissioner of Precinct No. 2 since January 1, 1987. William Henry "Hunky" Greene, born March 2, 1939, is also a farmer and rancher. He lives on the W. A. Greene homeplace. Nellie Beth Greene, born February 2, 1942, is a teacher at Happy. Her husband, Stanley McDonough, has retired as a game warden and they have moved to a farm near Happy.