John Durward Green

John "Jack" D. Green, 80 of Monmouth, OR died peacefully in his sleep October 1, 2013.

He was born in Baker, Montana on August 25, 1933 to Cecil & Ruth Green, the oldest of seven children.
Jack grew up in southeastern & northwestern Montana, moving to North Richland Washington as a teen, where he graduated from high school. After a year at Clark College in Vancouver, WA, he enlisted in the Navy serving as an ET-3 on the destroyer escort USS Naifeh in combat duty during the Korean Conflict.
After discharge in 1956, Jack moved to Los Angeles, working for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph. As he said, his life changed forever after he met and married the love of his life, Ruth Mason, in 1957.

Jack graduated from Woodbury College with a BA in Business Administration/Accounting in 1959, moving into management at PT&T. Soon thereafter Jack & Ruth's first son, Michael was born, followed in 1960 by their second son, David.

Jack's career in early computer accounting allowed him to move the family first to Walnut Creek, CA and finally back to the Pacific Northwest where the family settled in Bellevue, WA in 1969. They remained there until after his retirement from the phone company in 1990. Jack's home repair/remodeling hobby led to post-retirement work with two long-time friends remodeling/refurbishing houses and condos around the Seattle area.
By 1992, Jack & Ruth lived their dream by moving to Kailua-Kona, HI, where they stayed for 6 wonderful years, enjoying the local community, deep sea fishing, and entertaining a multitude of dear family and friends. Jack became one of the first certified tour guides on Hawai'i, working a tour for visiting cruise ship passengers and sharing the local history and lore. They left Hawai'i in 1998.

After 3 years in Talent, OR, Jack & Ruth moved to Lincoln City to be near son David and step-grandchild Gabe. They lived, celebrated and volunteered in the community until their recent move this July to Monmouth, OR.
Jack's love for his wife, sons and extended family & friends led to his many affiliations, memberships and volunteer interests over his long life, including: Boy Scouts, Special Olympics, Telephone Pioneers, Youth Soccer, numerous neighborhood associations and Habitat for Humanity. Jack was also an honorary Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and was a welcome guest with his son David at Lincoln City Rotary Club meetings.
One of Jack's true passions was his 5 years as construction chair leading the local Habitat for Humanity chapter as it built 4 affordable houses for local families in Lincoln City. He and Ruth also coordinated the volunteers and recruited many local contractors, suppliers and businesses into each build. Jack's contracting & building skills also allowed him to work part-time for West Coast Bank as a construction loan inspector, work that he enjoyed until his death.

Jack enjoyed watching sports, playing cribbage, barbequing just about anything as well as spending time with family and friends. He lived his life giving of himself to help others help themselves. He always met new people with an "Aloha" spirit, making friends with one and all.

Jack is survived by wife Ruth Green, of Monmouth, OR, son Michael Green of Redmond, WA, son David Green & daughter-in-law to be Cynthia Vargo of Salem, OR, and step-grandson Gabe Corbett of Lincoln City, OR as well as a large and loving extended family. Services will be private. Remembrances can be made to Lincoln City Food Pantry or Habitat for Humanity of Lincoln County. Farnstrom Mortuary is handling arrangements. Please share your memories at FarnstromMortuary.com.