Judy R Green

Some say that we can measure someone’s life by the size of the hole they leave behind. Judy’s impact can be measured by the number of people whose lives are richer, because they knew her. Judy was born Sept 4,1935, in Eugene, to Orville & Dora Reynolds. The first of 2 children, she grew up in Newport, Astoria, Eugene, and Portland. She attended Astoria High, and in 1953 she graduated from Grant High School in Portland. She was on the Grant High Rose Festival Court. She married Kenn Lantz in 1956, and they had three children. They divorced, and she married Richard (Dick) Green in 1973 in Kennewick, WA. They later settled in Portland in 1978. Dick: In high school Judy worked, saving toward college at the University of Oregon. Her mother and many other relatives were grads or had worked there. Although she earned the money for college, she was not able to continue her formal education because her father spent the money. She knew the importance of a college education. When she and Kenn divorced, she and Kenn agreed to make sure that Brian, Kristi, and Kathi would have the opportunity to go to college. All of them decided to go to Oregon State University. That set into motion a little civil war rivalry. They all graduated with degrees and worked in their fields. Kristi, our engineer, soon decided to become a domestic engineer. Kristi: Mom was always a mentor to me. I have been blessed with a temperament similar to hers. She showed me how to create a peaceful, supportive family home. She exemplified patience and maintaining peace in raising us 3 kids and also 3 foster kids for a few years. She was slow to speak, slow to anger, and listened, considered, and counted to 10 before responding. She was encouraging and supportive of the family in all of their endeavors, while working hard not to influence the choices each of us would make for ourselves. I always knew she was proud of us. Much of her happiness was wrapped up in family. She set a wonderful example for her kids for what a mother should be. She raised her kids to be strong, independent, logical, capable adults, with a healthy amount of self-respect, which has served us well in life. These are things that are caught more than specifically taught, and we each caught it through her example, encouragement and support. Brian: One day when a friend and I were building a ‘fort’ between the shed and the highway fence in the yard of the white trailer, I remember being so amazed that Mom went to the store and bought a plastic table cloth that we stretched between the shed and the fence to cover the area. Forts were always made from whatever scrap wood we could scrounge up in the neighborhood. The idea of buying something to further the process was a total surprise. I remember finding giant spiders on the blackberry bushes one year. Mom took one to the agricultural extension service and brought back a couple pamphlets on identifying spiders and insects. They were Golden Garden Spiders, by the way. She was always encouraging my curiosity, whether about bugs or rocks, or staying up half the night to watch the moon landing. Judy loved her husband, her kids, her grandkids, and she delighted in her garden, which flourished under her tender care. She knew the proper names of a thousand native plants. Family trips were punctuated by cries of “Stop the car! I saw Amaranthus Retroflexus!” Her love of plants took an interesting turn. In 1975 Judy and her husband Dick published a book, Natural Dyes from Northwest Plants. She was intelligent and extremely capable, stepping into a job in Kennewick in a one employee credit union office, which led to a career managing several different credit unions. For many years she was a volunteer at the Oregon Historical Society library. As a grandparent, she was famous for ‘grandma days’, when she and Dick would spend individual time with each of the grandkids. Rebecca (sister-in-law): She was an inspiring life-long learner. She’d sometimes call to be sure I’d seen a news article she thought I’d like. Her quiet strength endures. Kathi: I remember mom cleverly devising 'games' to help me learn to behave appropriately. I remember special nights of television, Daniel Boone, with Nacho flavored Doritos and Simba pop. She was a Cub Scout / Webelos den mother and a Campfire Girls leader. She used funky words and odd phrases some of which I still spout out - cattywampus. She was so organized and planned things out so well - she planned meals by the week and shopped accordingly. She was crafty and creative - made homemade cards and Christmas ornaments. She was loving, caring, nonjudgmental and fair. She was classy in an ordinary sort of way. She was so many things I wish I could be. Kenn Lantz: She was thoughtful, caring, sharing, loving, and generous. She raised three wonderful children. Dick: Judy never met a person that she didn’t befriend. At the credit union she managed, she felt it was very important to call the members by their names. This ability to remember names was applied to the people she befriended, too. Bill (son-in-law): I once read that if you want to know what a girl is going to be like when she is older, look at her mother. In Judy, I saw a woman who seemed to be everything that a wife and mother should be. She was so capable, so thoughtful. She selected her words carefully. We shared a special relationship, everything that I could have wanted from a mother-in-law, and more. I was so impressed by the book that she and Dick wrote, it stirred me to become a writer myself. She cheered for everything that I wrote. Kristi: She introduced me to the Christian faith by taking us kids to Sunday school and church, from the time I was age 5 to 9. I returned to this faith at a later age, and will be forever grateful for her part in laying that foundation. Chip (son-in-law): Judy was a delightful woman who taught me how to age gracefully in a society that fails to understand that you exchange youth for wisdom. She raised a beautiful daughter Kathi who I cherish and love. She provided me with many wonderful holidays and taught me the importance of family, and how to love nature in the simplest of ways. Dick: Judy and I weren’t involved in any church after we moved to Portland in 1978. We discussed her going over to Rose City Park United Methodist Church to talk with the pastor about concerns after her cancer. In 2007 we discussed this again and she said she would, but only if we both went, and we have been involved ever since. It has been important to both of us. In 2014, we switched churches to Montavilla United Methodist Church. We had been so involved with each other and family that we had not pursued developing other friendships. Judy joined a women’s circle, the book group, and we both joined the XYZ group. Judy and I basked in their friendship. Brian: I remember Mom playing with us with a playground ball in the street at the end of the driveway of the white trailer in Frontier Mobile Village in Clackamas. I remember being so impressed by her smile. I remember feeling special when Mom taught me to play progressive rummy and cribbage after the girls had gone to bed. Kathi: She enjoyed crafting, sewing, gardening, helping, volunteering, cooking, living. She just wasn't able to do some of that stuff since losing sight in one eye in 2001. I remember always getting to open one gift on Christmas Eve - a nightgown homemade by mom. She made most, if not all, of my school clothes through about 3rd grade. She let me have my own garden under one of the trees in the front yard on Thiessen Rd. - maybe the start of my joy in gardening. She cooked all our meals, made homemade cookies and baked goods, rum/bourbon balls while we were growing up. Kristi: Mom also taught us much during her later years. She exemplified growing older with grace and kindness. She accepted adversity and found a way to tackle it and put it in its place, continuing to move forward with life. Through many years of health issues, her determination and positive attitude never failed. Dick: Judy and I were soul-mates. A match made in heaven, totally in love with each other. Our secret was that it was alright to disagree. It was okay to have different opinions. You may have noticed our wedding rings. Although they are the same design, hers is yellow gold, and mine is white gold. This is how we lived together, 2 days short of 42 years. We never went to bed without our “I love yous”. Family get-togethers gave her great joy, especially when the grandkids were there. The 2009 Hawaii cruise with our three kids was spectacular. We loved our travel, especially Depoe Bay on the Oregon coast. Our favorite vacations were the many cruises to Alaska. Judy was my wife, my love, my best friend. Judy was preceded in death by her brother, James Reynolds. She is survived by her husband of 42 years, Richard Green, by her children, Brian Lantz, Kristi (Bill) Leslie, and Kathi (Chip) Barry, and by four grandchildren. She passed away November 1 from injuries sustained in a fall on October 13th. As she struggled through her last weeks, she demonstrated grace and good humor. Friends are invited to a memorial gathering at 2:00 pm on December 12th at Montavilla United Methodist Church, 232 SE 80th Avenue Portland, OR 97215 An online obituary can be seen at www.rosshollywoodfuneralchapel.com