Margaret Custis Green

MARGARET KATHRYN CUSTIS GREEN passed away peacefully with family members surrounding her on the early morning of Friday, the 19th of January 2018. Margaret was a gracious and beautiful woman until the very end and had an extremely kind and giving heart. Her strong Christian faith was her guiding principle in the way she conducted her life. Margaret recently celebrated her 80th birthday at her beloved Lakeside Country Club, just days before Hurricane Harvey’s destruction there. She joins her loving husband, Ira Harris Green, Sr., of almost 50 years in heaven.

Margaret was born on the 20th of August 1937, to William Samuel Custis and Morgie Garrett Custis in Princeton, West Virginia. She spent her childhood in several cities including Springfield, Missouri, Evanston, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1955 in a suburb of St. Louis. She was Treasurer of her senior class and was an avid athlete playing on the field hockey, basketball, volleyball, softball and bowling teams. She also attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and Gulf Park College for Women in Gulfport, Mississippi. She began her career working for Stix Baer & Fuller, a department store in St. Louis. She worked there for several years rising to the head buyer for the children’s department until the birth of her children. A big influence in her life was her aunt and namesake, Margaret Ingersoll, who was the Fabrics Fashion Editor for Vogue Magazine for several decades. Margaret Green’s interest in fashion continued throughout her life as evidenced by the way she carried and dressed herself. Years later she would go back to work in sales at Talbot’s in Houston.

Never one to sit still, Margaret was involved in numerous activities and volunteer positions. She held the “PTA Trifecta” serving as President of the PTA’s of Frostwood Elementary, Memorial Middle School and Memorial Senior High School. She was actively involved for years with the Assistance League of Houston and served as President of her investment club, “The Buy Low Babes”. She also worked for a number of years as the wedding coordinator for Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. Additionally, Margaret was very caring to those in need. She was the first person a friend would want to speak with whether she was going through a divorce, dealing with a family death or injury. When someone was in need, she was always the first to bring over food and her famous chocolate chip cookies (its recipe she refused to share with anyone). One of the things that bothered Margaret the most was to know that someone she knew was suffering.

Margaret was always competitive and athletic and enjoyed for a long time playing tennis and golf in the women’s associations at Lakeside Country Club. This competitive trait was evermore present in the family’s annual “White Elephant” gift exchange at Christmas, where she proved to be a fierce and confident gift selector. She also had a wonderful sense of humor, particularly in a self-deprecating way. Her smile was very infectious and always there for everyone to see.

Margaret met her husband Ira in St. Louis. They were married in 1960 and enjoyed almost 50 years of marriage until his death in 2009. She moved to Houston with him in 1971 where he was hired by First City National Bank to open up their Bond Department.

She is also preceded in death by her parents and sister, Mary Custis Hart. She is survived by her four children and 11 grandchildren; Ira Harris Green, Jr. and his wife Susie, their children Harris, Thomas and Cole, all of Houston; Christopher Todd Green and his wife Ann, their children Caroline, Zachary and Garrett, all of Houston; Kathryn Custis Green Moore and her husband Patrick, their children Custis and Thompson, all of Plano, Texas; and Michael William Green and his wife Stephanie, their children William, Abby and Grant, all of Houston. She is also survived by her brother-in-law Edward Hart Green III and his wife Sue of Houston; her brother-in-law Jerome Hart of Charlotte, North Carolina; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family would like to extend its gratitude to the staff and nurses at the Belmont Village Hunters Creek for all their help with Margaret over the past several years. In addition, we would like to especially thank Letty Loya for serving as our mother’s “angel on earth” during the last part of her life.

A memorial service is to be conducted at one o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, the 29th of January, in the sanctuary of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Drive in Houston. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in the narthex of the church.

In lieu of floral tributes, the family requests with gratitude, that memorial contributions be directed for research to the Nantz National Alzheimer Center, Houston Methodist, under the direction of Dr. Joseph Masdeu C/O Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 4384, Houston, TX 772210-4384.