John E. Green, Jr., M.D.

John E. Green, Jr., M.D., 88, died Sunday, August 15, 2010. He was born July 18, 1922, in Kosse, Texas, to John E. Green, Sr. and Beatrice Prather Green and lived an exemplary life of service to family, church, community, and country.

A celebration of his life will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 17 at the First United Methodist Church in Ballinger with Rev. Buddy Moore and Rev. Joe Chamness officiating.

Dr. Green graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown in 1939 and from Texas A & M in 1943. He then graduated from the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston in 1948 and did a surgical internship at Pearce County Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. He served honorably in the United States Air Force from 1950-1952 and completed tours of duty in Tokyo, Japan and on the island of Guam.

He met the love of his life, Mary Anne Allen, when he was a medical student in Galveston and Mary Anne was a nursing student there. The couple had many fond memories of their courtship in Galveston and enjoyed returning to Galveston for their class reunions throughout their 63 years of marriage. They were married September 14, 1947, in Ballinger at the home of the bride’s parents, pioneer ranchers Rufus and Frances Wood Allen. To this union five children were born.

Dr. Green practiced medicine for over 50 years, 38 of those years in Ballinger beginning his practice in Ballinger originally in an office over the old Pearce-Bailey drugstore on December 8, 1952. He became a partner in 1954 with Dr. Charles F. Bailey and Dr. Oren H. Chandler in the ownership of the old Ballinger Hospital, where he practiced until the new Ballinger Memorial Hospital was completed and opened on January 1, 1963. The old hospital building was eventually demolished in 1970.

Dr. Green built the Ballinger Clinic at 302 N. 3rd Street across from where the old Ballinger Hospital stood and practiced there for over 20 years, beginning on January 31, 1967. That building was a modern facility designed for three doctors and is used to this day as a doctor’s clinic. Dr. Green also practiced in Meridian, Santa Anna, Coleman, Bronte, San Angelo, and Menard. He affiliated with San Angelo’s Shannon Hospital in 1990 after selling his practice in Ballinger to the Shannon group. Medicine was Dr. Green’s passion throughout his life. He always took a special interest in his patients and enjoyed visiting with them years after he had treated them and could uncannily remember their various ailments and conditions. He unselfishly treated all, administering to and ministering to his patients, often making house calls. He enjoyed reading medical literature, listening to medical lectures on audiotape, mentoring physicians in training, and attending medical conferences and keeping abreast of trends in the field even throughout his retirement.

He received the Emeritus Physician Award from the Texas Academy of Family Physicians in July of 2008, and although unable to attend the award ceremony due to declining health, his children proudly attended and accepted the award on his behalf. Quoting from the acceptance speech given by his oldest son, Dr. John E. Green, III, “Those of you who know my Dad know he was a quiet giant, never saying very much. He couldn’t change the whole world but could change the corner he was in—Christian man, husband, father, physician, community leader, and Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of ’43.”

Dr, Green revolutionized the practice of medicine in Ballinger in the 1950’s when he insisted that his indigent and minority patients have the same access to medical care as anyone else, and insisted that the indigent and minority mothers be allowed to deliver their babies in the upstairs labor and delivery area of the old Ballinger Hospital rather than in the first floor emergency room and immediately being sent home. It was also Dr. Green’s vision of home health medical services in Ballinger that prompted Carol Jennings and the late Shirley Tekell, both of whom worked for Dr. Green many years, to begin Ballinger Home Health, an invaluable service to many in Runnels County to this day.

Loyalty was very important to Dr. Green, and he valued that trait. He never forgot kindnesses that were extended to him or his family, especially by those who assisted him in his medical practice or helped him in the raising of his children. He fondly remembered Louis and Lillie Miller, Red and Cleo Washington, Louis and Dorothy Triggs, Josephine Stallings, Shirley Tekell, Emma Goetz, Cal and Lela Adair, Helen Selby, Loretta Michalewicz, and Dr. Dean Watson, to name a few whom he held in particular high esteem.

The grandson of pioneer Methodist preacher Edward Prather, Dr. Green was a long-time member of the First United Methodist Church of Ballinger, having served in numerous leadership capacities. He served for 10 years as the city health officer of Ballinger and served on the Board of Trustees of the Ballinger Independent School District from 1955-1964. He was a long-time member of the Runnels County Medical Society of which he served as president, Texas Medical Association, American Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association, Texas Academy of Family Practitioners, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. He earned Diplomate status with the American Board of Family Practice in 1972. He served many years as Chief of Staff of Ballinger Memorial Hospital and was a member of the Ballinger Noon Lions Club for over 50 years.

Dr. Green was an avid supporter of the Ballinger Bearcats and his beloved Texas Aggies. He organized the first Aggie Muster in Ballinger and Runnels County and enjoyed the annual Musters throughout his life. He was recognized as the oldest A & M graduate in Runnels County at the 2009 Muster. He was a member of the Century Club of Texas A & M University and took pride in the other Aggies in his family: John E. Green, III, MD (’72), Nancy Blackwell (’00), Catheryne Green Hasley (’03), Jeff Hasley (’02), Damian Rojas (’01), Jan Henry, PhD (’05), and Marybeth Green, PhD (’05).

A quiet and reserved man by nature, Dr. Green exemplified honesty, hard work, service and dedication. His children fondly recall some of his fatherly advice—“there are no free lunches,” “if you can’t pay cash for it, you probably don’t need it,” and “drive it till it stops,” all of which reflect his ultra conservative approach to life, and when his kids wanted to do something that he didn’t think was in their best interest, he would say, “Let’s don’t and say we did.” His office staff and patients fondly recall his parting words of “Carry on,” his way of telling them that they were doing well and to keep doing what they had been doing.

Affectionately called Big Daddy by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he enjoyed having his family visit in his home in Ballinger. In honor of the 40th wedding anniversary of Dr. Green and Mary Anne in 1987, their children began the annual Green Family Reunion at Casa Bonita resort near Hunt, Texas, gathering in that beautiful Hill Country area consecutively for 23 years on or around their parent’s anniversary.

Together with Mary Anne, Dr. Green held farm and ranch interests in Runnels, Falls, and Limestone Counties of Texas, and enjoyed driving a pick-up over the various holdings. He aggressively practiced conservation on their properties and was known as a fair and honest businessman as he worked with local contractors to improve the land by expanding stock tanks, maintaining fences, rotating livestock and crops, and clearing brush and mesquite.

Dr. Green’s legacy is that of an honorable husband and father, having loved only one woman his entire life and having set the highest example of integrity and hard work for his children. He considered his greatest contribution those he leaves behind to cherish his memory.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Anne, of Ballinger; two sons, Dr. John E. Green, III, and his wife Mary Elizabeth Lansdell Green PhD. of San Antonio and Perry Allen Green and his wife Paula Harral Green of San Angelo; three daughters, Jan Green Haney, PhD. of San Antonio, Peggy Green Fiveash of Ballinger, and Julie Green Rojas and her husband Dr. Peter Rojas of Victoria; sisters, Linda Green Curtis of San Angelo and Mary Louise Hilley of Kosse; grandsons, Bradley Elliott Haney and his wife Jessica Polanco Haney of San Antonio, Marine Travis Edward Green and his wife Bridget Babida Green of San Antonio, and Damian Rojas and his wife Adrian of Houston; granddaughters, Amanda Fiveash Behnken and her husband Steven of San Antonio, Catheryne Green Hasley and her husband Jeff of Houston, Megan Frances Green of Austin, Kristin Emilia Rojas and Hilary Anne Rojas both of Dallas, and Andrea Rojas Gomez and her husband Chris and their son Xavier of Houston; great-grandchildren, Brittney, Aiden, and Emmerson Haney, and Eli Behnken all of San Antonio and babies Hasley, Behnken, and Gomez due in October and November 2010 respectively; special nieces, Linda Blackwell and her daughter Nancy Blackwell of Spring and Kelle Curtis Hansen and her daughter Chloe of San Angelo; and brother-in-law, Rufus Allen, Jr. of Richardson and his children, Steven Paul Allen, Dr. Greg Allen and his wife Katherine of Austin, and Marla Allen Amato and her husband Bruce, also of Austin.

Dr. Green was preceded in death by his parents, in-laws Rufus and Frances Wood Allen, grandson Brian Allen Haney, sister-in-law Pat Koller and her husband Clark Koller, and sister-in-law Jane Jernigan Allen.

Pallbearers will be Gordon Hays, Larry Hays, Ron Edington, Steven Gray, Dr. Mark McKinnon, Dr. Stewart Robbins, Norvell Meredith, Jack Hatler, Troyce O’Neal, M. E. Sweeney, and T. G. Rose. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Ballinger Noon Lions Club and members of the Friendship Sunday School Class of the First United Methodist Church of Ballinger.

Family members would like to especially thank Dr. Green’s former employee and beloved caregiver Joni Fuller Gray and her husband Steven, Dr. Mark McKinnon and his wife Ellen, and Ballinger Home Health, whose faithful care and concern was a comfort to Dr. Green and his family in his last days.

Dr. Green will be laid to rest in the family plot at the Old Runnels Cemetery north of Ballinger.