Richard Greene
In Memory of
Richard Otis "Ricky, Mr. Greene, Sir "
Greene
1951 - 2018
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Obituary for Richard Otis "Ricky, Mr. Greene, Sir " Greene

Richard Otis "Ricky, Mr. Greene, Sir "  Greene
Richard Otis Greene (also known as “Ricky “to some “Mr. Greene” to others, and “Sir” when he was feeling particularly dignified) was born April 10th 1951 to John H. & Annie Greene. He was the second oldest son of 6 children.
John H. Greene Jr. (The oldest now deceased), Linda Miller, Gloria Jenkins, James Greene, Curtis Greene. Richard was raised in the Bronx where he attended elementary, Junior high and High school. Richard graduated with honors from Samuel Gompers in the Bronx where he practiced fencing, archery and chess. He later went on to attend Queens college where he earned his bachelor's in Social Work and where he met his first wife Barbara Jones. They married in 1973 and out of this union was born one daughter, Jocelyn Greene.
It was during this time that Richard found employment at North General Hospital in Harlem, NY. Later he would attend Touro University and obtain a Masters in Social Work.
Although the marriage didn’t work out, his career at NGH flourished, and he would serve as a substance abuse counselor for over 30 years and go on to be well regarded amongst his peers and coworkers.

A self-proclaimed lone wolf/ alpha male, Richard tried his hand at matrimony a second time and in 1985 he married Sandra Graham but, true to his bachelor, “Ricky” couldn’t be held down and divorced some years later.

In 2007 Richard, taking into account his health, retired and moved to Gastonia N.C., where he enjoyed the warmer balmier climate of the south and strove to be an active member in the Gaston County Community.

Amongst some of his favorite past times was reading. In particular he enjoyed the works of Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, Peter Straub and J.R.R Tolkien.
Richard absolutely loved playing chess and would challenge anyone who was willing to a game of wits, and he was always, - always open to trash talk.

He was also a proud card-carrying member of the NRA and a proponent of the second amendment. Richard was an avid film and music buff with an extensive collection, and was not-so-secretly addicted to the home shopping networks, where he found that the purchasing and gifting cookery could indeed qualify as an actual hobby. He was a collector and gatherer of things and of people.

Although Richard had complicated relationships with most of his family, he could also be a great source of kindness, resourcefulness, levity, and jocular banter. He was unfiltered, straight no chaser, and raw as a newly hatched egg. He was loud, brash, and sometimes irretractable, but he was also steady, generous to those he felt needed him the most, and equipped with an ironic and sometimes salty sense of humor.

On January 11, 2018 Richard succumbed to a long-term illness. He leaves to cherish his memory a daughter Jocelyn Greene, of Jamaica, New York; a mother Annie L. Greene, of Gastonia, North Carolina; two sisters, Linda G. Miller, of Gastonia, North Carolina and Gloria Jenkins, of Bronx, New York; two brothers, James J. Greene of Salem, New Hampshire, and Curtis L. Greene, of Boston, Massachusetts, two brother in-laws; Donald Jenkins of Bronx, NY, Richard Miller of Gastonia, North Carolina, and one sister in law, Kristina Foster Greene of Salem New Hampshire, a host of nieces (a special niece of whom he was very fond of Dominique Jenkins of Bronx, New York) a cadre of nephews, cousins, and close friends to mourn his passing. (We quite cheekily add HSN and QVC to his list of mourners, as they have lost a most loyal customer).


He was many things to many people, a son, a brother, a father, an uncle, a friend, a confidant, a co-conspirator, hard core New Yorker whom the cold winters turned southern, but mostly, he was just “Ricky”.
He quite simply, was a person who lived by his own terms, played by his own rules, and the rest of us were merely along for the ride. The road might not always have been smooth, sometimes it was dark, with treacherous curves and winding roads, but it was never boring, always an adventure.

We wish Richard a peaceful journey.

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