Green, Willene
Age ninety-one. February 16, 2000. Preceded in death by her parents, Marcellus Blucher and Mary C. Abston; daughter Peggy Allison Green; brother Blucher Allison; sisters, Tommie, Edith, Hazel, Minette, Grace; grandsons, Lawrence Kendall and Robert Smith. She was a long-time volunteer at The American Red Cross, member of the Otter Creek Church of Christ, and Cheekwood. She is survived by her husband Sam Kennedy Green; daughters, Sue Green Smith, Dorothy G. (Glen) Strange, Barbara G. (Charles) Tipke, Pam (Joseph) White; sisters Marcena George, Houston, TX, Mildred (Robert) Williams, Richmond IN, nine grandchildren, eighteen great-grandchildren. Services to be conducted 2:00 P.M. Saturday, February 19, 2000, at Otter Creek Church of Christ by Bro. Henry Arnold, Dr. Daniel Baccus, and Bro. Joseph White. Interment Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro. Visitation with the family after 12:30 P.M., Saturday, at the church. Grandsons and sons-in-law to serve as pallbearers. Arrangements by Woodlawn Funeral Home. 615-383-4754.
Comments by Carolyn Wilson, printed in the Otter Creek bulletin, February 27, 2000
It seems such a short time since a young couple with a baby girl came to Otter Creek. Among the first people we met were Kennedy and Willene Green. They welcomed us, fed us, nurtured us, advised us, and loved us. Pam was our babysitter. The male half of that couple left this world for a better one many years back, and that baby girl is now a mother of three girls. The intervening years have brought us through the valleys and the peaks and during all this time Kennedy and Willene walked beside us. Kennedy has been financial advisor, as well as spiritual mentor and friend. Willene taught me to make the best lasagna I ever tasted and an absolutely heavenly cherry pie. My pie could never be as good as Willene’s because hers was made with cherries from her own fruit trees.
The influence of this couple is beyond measure. It is difficult to even say Willene without saying Kennedy or to say Kennedy without saying Willene. The vibrant personality that was Willene was taken away by a disease, and only her physical body has been with us. I don’t know why. I don’t understand why a loving God allows such tragedies, but I do know that the example of devotion and caregiving by Kennedy has lighted the path for all of us and his faith and strength has made my own seem small. I know there has to be rejoicing in Heaven that Willene is now at peace.
Death has a way of defining us. We remember all the ways that the loved one contributed to the shape of our lives. And this does not diminish with death because the influence and the memory that remain continue to shape and nurture and bless us. The relationship goes on even when death takes the life. I will remember Willene—the elder’s wife, the mother of daughters, the grandmother, the companion of a successful businessman, a gracious hostess, giver of joy and laughter, compassionate friend, child of God. And I thank my Lord for the blessed assurance that only this life ends in death.
I cannot understand why anyone should fear death. Life here is more cruel than death—life divides and estranges, while death, which is life eternal, reunites and reconciles. I believe that when the eyes without my physical eyes shall open upon the world to come, I shall simply be consciously living in the country of my heart. -Helen Keller
Comment by Sandra Collins Not long after our family moved to Nashville, a panel of women led the Otter Creek ladies’ class. I remember only what Willene said. She described how painful it had been to lose a child. At the close of her remarks, she said, “It’s just one more magnet drawing me to heaven.”