Rev. Otha Green Sr.

.Reverend Otha Green, Sr. was born on May 18, 1930 in Zwolle, Louisiana to Nuby Green II and Rodell Mitchell Green, who had come from Little Rock, Arkansas to work the sawmill. He was the second of five children and the oldest son. He crossed the finish line in the Great Race well-run and went Home Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 8:19 PM after years of loving care by his devoted wife at home before his last years in DeQuincy Care Center from complications of diabetes and Alzheimers.

Rev Green leaves behind for now his beloved wife of 65 years, Bertha Elizabeth Comeaux; his son and only child, Otha Green, Jr. and wife of 36 years, Paula Higginbotham Green & his only two grandchildren, Caleb Otha Green (22) and Chloe Angele Green(16) , all of San Antonio, Texas; his two living siblings, oldest sister, Mary L. Wood and youngest sister, Eloise Franklin; many wonderful nephews and nieces who knew him as “Bubba” or “Unc”. The family is so grateful to Thomas “Tank” Mallett who visited Pop morning and evening the last week or so and was at his bedside when he breathed his last breath & made the call to let us know; to Mercie “Deedee” Green Payne who worked at the DeQuincy Care Center where Pop spent the last 3 ½ years of his life and kept an eye on him & to the nurses and doctors of DCC, Dequincy Hospital and Christus Hospice who treated him so well and cared for him with compassion and dignity; to Pastor Clifton David and Eric Woods, nephews & neighbors who have been there over the years & have been supporting Mamma so much through this journey; to Fr. Ed Brunnert from Mamma’s home church, Our Lady of LaSalette Catholic Church, who came often to visit and pray with Rev; to Twila & Scott Hagen and their family for being FAMILY to Mamma these past few years…Twila, you are like a daughter/granddaughter to Mamma and we love you for loving her so much; to Aunt Nora Washington and Linda LeBlanc from Houston, Mamma’s sister and niece who have always been and still are there for her, who cared for her back to health last spring and are her beloved family; and to Mamma’s church family who have been her foundation and support throughout her life & especially these last few years as she has had to adjust to life without Rev in the house.

Rev. Green is welcomed Home into the Communion of Saints by his parents, an infant brother who died at birth, O.C. Green, his younger brothers, Ezell Green & Nuby Green, Jr. and sister, Arlene Mallett along with numerous other friends, teachers, mentors and family. It must be quite a joyous reunion!!!

Our beloved Pop’s family came to Dequincy in 1941. He described them as a “sawmill family” and often said “I was the boy most likely not to succeed.” He went on to live a life that epitomized Ephesians 3:20: “God, by His Power at work in us can do more than we would ever dare to ask , imagine or even dream.” His family became affiliated with First Church of God in Christ under the leadership of the late Rev. William H. Samuel. His formative years brought him under the tutorship of renowned teachers: the late Bishop W.M. Morris, Supt C.B. Norris and Elder O.B.Pete.

He succeeded against the odds and attained his high school diploma after he went into the Army and served his country with honor in the Korean Conflict. After his discharge he returned to DeQuincy where he began his railroad career as a fireman on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the MOP. He married Bertha Elizabeth Comeaux on January 27, 1951. They lost two babies before Otha Green, Jr was born on June 12, 1954 on the same day that Bertha’s mother died. They lost two other pregnancies after Otha so he grew up as an only child but surrounded by aunties and uncles and cousins. During Otha, Sr’s railroad years, he worked his way up to conductor and finally became one of the few black locomotive engineers for Union Pacific in the early 1980’s until he retired in 1989.

He was a man of many gifts and always had several “irons in the fire” working hard to provide for his wife and son a life they could be proud of. He went to Tyler Barber College in Houston and in 1954 opened a barber shop in DeQuincy, reported in a newspaper article in Feb 2004 as having what may be the oldest business in DeQuincy operated by the same person for 50 years! He went on to run the Barber shop for many more years even after retiring from the railroad in 1989. He spoke with pride of his purchase of a business property on Grand Avenue in 1964 from DeQuincy’s long-time plumber, the late Joe Johnson. The front of the property was developed to be barber-beauty shop and the back was to be a barbecue grill; but, the Gulf Assistance Program for Calcasieu Parish needed office space, so Mr. Green moved his shop to allow the GAP to use the front portion of his property and pointed out that this was the first integrated business in DeQuincy. He and Dr. C. E. Coney called together the ministers and community leaders to organize and work together to bring the Gulf Assistance Program to DeQuincy and better their community. After that endeavor, Mr. Green was allowed to become a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

In 1972 Mr. Green bought about 40 acres on what is called Green Cut-Off to develop an acreage neighborhood and built the first house in the area, the beautiful place where his family lived and his wife still calls home.

Rev Green was called to the ministry in July 1975 and was ordained March 1978 after graduation from Western LA State, numerous conventions and courses on preaching and teaching. He served as Associate Minister at First COGIC, Asssistant Superintendent of Sunday School, Mission teacher, founder of the Men’s Rap which was recognized statewide, and as District President of the Mission Department of the DeQuincy District. His state work included Southwest Regional Director of Missions, Finance Committee, Vice President of Men’s Fellowship, USAC Teacher of Ministers. The work which seemed dearest to his heart behind family and his barber shop was his prison ministry began in 1989 at Phelps Correctional Center where he ministered for 21 years until diabetes and Alzheimer’s took their toll on his physical abilities. The weekly meeting included singing, preaching and teaching and he spoke of the young men there as his other sons and he gave many of them a much-needed positive male role model and father image, hoping to help them be better people. One of his son’s favorite memories is serving alongside Rev Green when he back to visit & having the inmates thank him for sharing his dad with them.

Rev Green embarked on a journey to discover his family’s heritage back in the early 60’s. He went to Kansas City to talk to his mother’s brother, the only family he knew, and stopped in Little Rock to see if he could find any of his dad’s relatives. He located D. L. Lindsey in Little Rock in 1961 then went to Hot Springs in 1962 and found Uncle Glen, the family patriarch at the time. Uncle Glen had never met Otha Sr. until this meeting but found them a place to stay, gave them a tour of the city, introduced him to the relatives in the area including Uncle Nute and suggested they start a family reunion. Every November the Linsdeys had a birthday party for Papa Lindsey so Otha Sr. started going and picking up Uncle Glen and joining the family celebration. Together they traced their roots to a slave, Mary Yarborough, whose seventh child was son, Nuby Green Sr., father of Otha Green, Sr. The family organized the Green/Lindsey/Mitchell/Cooper/Meadow/Brown Family reunion in 1976 where Otha Sr. finally met Uncle Pete, his dad’s brother.

FAMILY was something our beloved Pop valued deeply and was SO proud of. He touched the lives of each of the relatives he knew & loved, those he searched out and of all of us blessed enough to be born or married into his family. We know he deeply touched the lives of his two grandchildren who he used to parade around DeQuincy in pride to show them off. They are certainly on a path to honor his legacy and dreams of higher education as Caleb graduates from Trinity University in May and Chloe is earning accomplishments at Northeast School of the Arts. He would have been SO proud to watch Caleb play football those four years at Trinity and to see Chloe receive a 2nd place national award for her sculpture at the Junior Division of the National NAACP convention.

He also left his mark on the five generations of his barbershop clients, the men of the MOP and Union Pacific Railroad along whom he worked, the Community Leaders in DeQuincy, some of whom liked him and some who did not (but eventually came to respect), the many retired railroad men who played dominoes in his barbershop, the men of Phelps Correctional Center , members of the Church of God in Christ across the state and country , the young men of the Better Boys Club he started in DeQuincy, the people of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in San Antonio where he often visited & was a guest preacher, the people of Our Lady of LaSalette Church in DeQuincy where he attended sometimes with his wife, a long-time involved and devoted parishioner , and the many others we will never know who had the immense privilege of crossing paths with this very incredible man, a soldier of Christ and child of God who strived to live and serve empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Rev. Otha Green, Sr. was in his heart of hearts a man who treasured family first and foremost; he was a visionary, an entrepreneur, a “shaker and a mover” , a leader . He was a man who taught his son that the hatred in the world would never change unless we learned to love. He was a registered barber by profession, a railroad engineer by education and training, and a preacher, teacher and minister by God’s calling with the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Though those who love him have not been able to be strengthened and guided by his words the past three plus years, or to be comforted by the look of love in his eyes but we have been and will continue to be strengthened by his spirit in and with us. In the words of his son, “his unconditional love is as real and life-giving to me as the air I breathe.” And in Pop’s words, “We thank you , Lord, for things as they are.”