Green
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Margaret Green never missed the birthdays and anniversaries of her friends around the world. Friends and family say they looked forward to special, hand-picked cards that always arrived on the right day.
Green was killed April 9 in a car accident on Highway 17 as she drove a friend home to Watsonville after Easter weekend. She was 67 years old.
Green's car crashed into a rental truck crossing southbound lanes on the highway, said a spokesman from the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office. The driver of the small Toyota truck was trying to enter the northbound lanes of the highway at its intersection with Bear Creek Road, the spokesman said.
The passenger in Green's car and the driver of the truck were treated for their injuries at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, he said.
Green, who had lived in Sunnyvale since 1963, is survived by her husband, Donald; her children, Dennis Green of Los Gatos, Gretchen Frueh-Green of Switzerland, Mark Green of Phoenix, Gary Green of Chico and Sheryl Green of Denver; and 10 grandchildren.
More than 180 people attended a memorial service for Green April 16 at St. Martin's Catholic Church to say goodbye to someone who gave and gave without expectation of return.
"She always wanted to help people," said Donald Green, who had met his wife as a student at the University of California, Berkeley.
Generous with friends and family, Green also spent countless hours interviewing Santa Clara County students during her 17 years as chairman for her alma mater's local Alumni Scholarship district.
"She and others spent hours interviewing these kids. That's the kind of dedication she was able to elicit from people," Don said.
Sandra Schram, a member of the interviewing committee, said the first time she entered Green's house, she felt like she belonged.
"I felt like I was someone she had known for years. She had a warmth and kindness, twinkly brown eyes and rosy, cherub cheeks that were always offset by a huge smile when she'd meet you," Schram said. She added that Green's voice carried a lightness and happiness that projected to those around her.
"She would open up her home for these marathon interview sessions," Schram said.
Green also worked as a psychometrist doing individual testing for kids who were having difficulties in the Fremont Union High School District, then as a guidance counselor at Monta Vista High School, followed by a stint teaching world history.
Don Green said his wife kept in touch with many of the students she had taught and counseled over the years. He had just finished writing notes in a half dozen cards that waited to be mailed with the arrival date marked on the corner of each envelope.
"She sent out over 500 greeting cards a year. If she couldn't decide between two cards to send, she'd just send them both," Don said. "She always kept lists of things to do and those were my marching orders."
Don said groups of students would congregate during lunch time in Green's classroom, accepting her as one of their own.
"She was always doing good for others," Don said, and described how his wife adopted a woman down the street who needed help. "She would take her to get her hair done, set out her medicine for her and do whatever else was needed."
Sheryl, 29, agreed that people flocked to her mother. She said all the neighborhood kids would always come to her house where they were welcome.
"Her house and her arms were always open. She was approachable. That's just how she was with young people," she said.
While Sheryl Green and her mother were close during the past six months, Sheryl said she was always just a phone call away. "Whatever I needed, I could pick up the phone and she'd be there," she said.
She said the most important thing her mother gave her was her faith. "I'm the only one who really hung onto that. It's one of the things my mother and I shared. Her relationship with her Creator was so strong that I have no doubt where she is."
A Memorial Fund has been established for scholarships to fund the education of minority students who wish to attend Berkeley. Send donations to: The Margaret Green Memorial Scholarship Fund, Scholarship Office, Alumni House, University of California, Berkeley, 94720.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 1, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.