Obituary of Lester Charles Green
Lester Charles Green, 88, beloved husband, dad, grandpa and great-grandpa, and long-time educator, passed away Oct. 23, 2017 at Balfour Senior Living in Louisville.
Private family graveside services will take place at Mountain View Memorial Park Cemetery in Boulder. Military Honors will be provided by the United States Army.
Memorial services will follow at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 3700 Baseline Road in Boulder, the Rev. Jacqueline Decker Vanderpol and the Rev. Dr. Stan Adamson officiating.
Les was born April 7, 1929 in Chagrin Falls, Ohio to Lester Worthy and Ada Cliff Green. As a youth, he worked in a variety of jobs, including as a meat cutter, grocery stocker, farm hand and in a toy factory. He graduated from Chagrin Falls High School in 1948.
From 1950-52, Les served in the U.S. Army in the United States, Korea, Germany and Greenland, working in vehicle maintenance, amphibious-vehicle repair and as a cannoneer with the 28th U.S. Army Division.
Following military service, he attended Bowling Green State University, earning a bachelor’s degree of education in 1954. He worked to put himself through college, as a heavy-equipment operator and laborer, including a job “humping” 100-pound sacks of feed into railroad boxcars by night.
Les lettered in football for four years at Bowling Green. He also was a member of Phi
Delta Theta fraternity; the honorary leadership fraternity, Omicron Delta Kappa; Phi Delta Kappa, national education honorary fraternity; Delta Sigma, national journalism honorary fraternity; the national art fraternity, Delta Phi Delta; and Alpha Phi Omega, national service fraternity.
He married Shirley Ruth Zieman on Aug. 15, 1954 in Lake Forest, Ill, and the couple moved to Boulder, where they lived for 63 years. They both had long careers as teachers in the Boulder Valley School District.
Les was a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Colorado, where he earned a master of arts degree in 1963. Beginning in 1956, he taught art in the Denver Public Schools, and from 1957-58 he and Shirley managed Boulder Trailer Court. He took various jobs during summer break, including as a laborer at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, an employee at an experimental grain elevator and as a service-station attendant.
Among many other achievements in his long career with the Boulder Valley School District, Les taught art at numerous schools, served as a football, basketball and track coach at Fairview High School, assistant principal at Douglass and Arapahoe elementary schools, principal of Lafayette Elementary School, and K-12 art supervisor. During the summer, he taught children’s and adult art courses for the city of Boulder Department of Recreation and the University of Colorado. From his retirement in 1990 until 2007, Les worked as a substitute teacher in the district.
Les was a long-time member of the Elks Club and a charter member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. He loved all art media, especially watercolor painting, reading, sports, and sailing.
He is survived by his wife Shirley, of Louisville; a son, Daniel I. Green and his wife Susie, of Firestone; three daughters, Debra Green of Louisville, Dayna Green of Arvada, and Deanna Green and her husband Scott Bradley, of Louisville; two brothers, James Green and his wife Phyllis, of Montrose, Colo., and Kenneth McCabe and his wife Peggy, of Baltimore; five grandchildren, Tiffany Mireles and her partner John Heisler, Ben Carter and his wife Lisa, Keith Carter and his wife Ashlie, Josiah Green, and Hannah Green; and seven great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a son, Daniel Charles Green; his parents; and his stepmother, Mildred R. Green.