Grandpa Green

"T.J." Theo James Green
11/30/1925 ~ 10/14/2011

T.J was born to William Charles Green and Mary Olga Layton Green on November 30, 1925 in Salt Lake City. He married Jean Stringham on November 9, 1944 in Merced, California. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 18, 1945.

T. J. was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and left a legacy of service for his family to follow. T.J. and Jean served a mission to Baguio, Philippines for eighteen months and also served a church auditing mission for six years. He is survived by his wife Jean Stringham Green, son Larry S. (Shelley) Green, son Randy J. (Penny) Green, daughter Bonnie (Paul) Oscarson, and daughter Jan (Mark) Stubbs, and 19 grandchildren and 46 great-grandchildren with more on the way. He is also survived by his sisters Maxine McCallum and Patricia Blackley. He was preceded in death by daughter-in-law, Ruth Ann Green and brother Milton Charles Green.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday October 22, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at the Bountiful Utah East Stake Center 650 East 2150 South, Bountiful, Utah. Family may be greeted one hour before the service at the chapel. Interment will be at the Bountiful City Cemetery.

The family suggests donations to the LDS Church Perpetual Education fund in lieu of flowers. Online guestbook at www.russonmortuary.com.



Heber's homage to Grandpa Green:

After Grandpa and Grandpa moved into a new apartment a few years ago they asked me if I could change the height of the shelves and hanging bars in one of the closets so Grandma could hang up her dresses. Happy for a chance to help out, I loaded my tools in the back of my little silver pickup truck and drove from Logan to Bountiful to remodel Grandma's closet. It was a relatively easy job that involved prying boards and shelves off of the wall, pulling the nails out of them, and then nailing them back up again. After I got all the shelves pulled down and was ready to nail them back up again I realized I had forgotten the air hose for my nail gun and sheepishly told Grandpa I'd have to go to the hardware store to pick up a new one.
Without hesitation he said "Let's go get you one." and before I knew it we were at the hardware store where he refused to let me buy a new air hose and insisted on paying for it. A short while later after all the shelves were leveled and nailed to the wall at their new height Grandpa walked over and handed me a check. I had a full time job and didn't need the money, especially after just being gifted a new air hose. I was just happy to have a chance to help out my Grandparents who so often spoiled me growing up, so I politely turned down the check. Grandpa taught me one of the many good business lessons he has taught, in the way that only Grandpa can teach. "You don't want to be good for nothing you know." He handed me the check and took me out for a hamburger at Arctic Circle with Grandma.

That pretty well sums up what I loved most about Grandpa Green. He was someone who, no matter what you were doing and how well you did it, could make you feel like it was the most important thing you could be doing and that you were doing it very well, despite what tool you may have forgotten. He listened to your own stories intently and shared his own with humor and love. His stories only got richer with each telling. The details always changed a little, even when Grandma was there to help him tell the story "right", but the ending was always as interesting and funny as if I had never heard it before. I can hear his voice in my mind so clearly telling the story of Grenelda Thudpucker, or the day a girl named Theo showed up at school who, "if she'd been an inch taller, would've been round", so he changed his name to T.J., and the the one that shamelessly makes me laugh the most about his beloved mother-in-law "Sweet old Bea, or S.O.B. for short." If ever I told a bad story that was too long, or not that funny, or repeated too many times, it was just me trying to be like my Grandpa, who's stories were never too long, always funny, never repeated enough.

When I got my new little pickup he was one of the first ones to get a ride in it, just because I knew he would make me feel proud of my new truck. He kept me stocked with fine golf clubs and golf balls when he bought himself the latest and greatest, and he never let me pay for a round. He shared his life experience to help with school papers, let me fix his computer, and made me feel loved. The best part is that he managed to do it with each of his grandchildren, and so many others. I'm sure they are all just as grateful as I am for that love.