TITLE:  Harold Greene Sr.

SOURCE:  The Beaufort Gazette

SUBMITTED BY: The Beaufort Gazette

FORMATTED BY:  Kim Grissom, Jan 2003

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Business, church leader dies at 83
Published Tue, Jan 7, 2003
By MICHAEL KERR
The Rev. Harold Greene Sr., 83, who helped to start a half-dozen 
churches in Beaufort and the Lowcountry, died Sunday night at his 
daughter's home in Springfield, Ga. Greene played a role in starting 
St. Helena, Indian Hill, Riverview, Shell Point, Okatie and 
Meadowbrook Baptist churches in the Savannah River Baptist Association.
Hilda and Robert Upton of St. Helena Baptist Church credited Greene 
for his vital role in helping them start the church in 1965. "Any time
we ever needed him, he was always there for us," Hilda Upton said. "He 
was very instrumental. He helped us get our first pastor and over the 
years he would always fill in if we were without a pastor." Most 
recently, Greene served as the church's interim pastor for several 
months in 2001, Robert Upton said. "Back in 1965, he was the one who 
really got us started," he said. "He was not a reverend at that time,
which is the reason we didn't get him to be our pastor." Before 
becoming a pastor shortly after helping start St. Helena Baptist 
Church, Greene was respected in the field of business around Beaufort,
according to his son, Harold Greene Jr. "He was a businessman known 
in his community before he joined the ministry," Harold Greene Jr. 
said. "Many people in the community had confidence in him, knowing of 
his credentials as a businessman." In 1959, Greene co-founded Anderson
and Greene Funeral Home and Ambulance Service, now Anderson Funeral 
Home, and owned a service station and motel at Grays Hill, Harold 
Greene Jr. said. "I'm proud to be his son," Harold Greene Jr. said. 
"My sister and I found ourselves very active in our churches because 
of lessons learned from both our parents. We can just thank God for 
parents like that." Greene was born Feb. 2, 1919, in Bryan County, Ga.,
a son of Vidella Lewis Greene and William Luther Greene.  He was a 
World War II Army veteran, having served in the European Theater, where
he participated in five amphibious landings. He was awarded the Silver 
Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Clusters, and Good Conduct Medal,
and was declared missing in action twice during the war.  Greene was 
a life member of Harmony Masonic Lodge No. 22, a member of the Omar 
Shrine Temple in Charleston and the Savannah River Pastor's Association.
Along with the churches he helped start, Greene was pastor at Riverview
Baptist Church, Indian Hill Baptist Church and Faith Baptist Church, 
and served as interim pastor and guest speaker in every church in the 
Savannah River Baptist Association. He was a licensed funeral director
and a member of and pastor at Meadowbrook Baptist Church on Lady's 
Island. Survivors include a daughter, Joyce G. Alderman of Springfield;
his son of Sumter; three sisters, Lucille Bell, Judy Smith and Beulah 
Kuntz of Hinesville, Ga.; two brothers, Robert Greene and Seaborn 
Greene of Pembroke, Ga.; and two grandchildren. The family will receive
friends from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Anderson Funeral Home. Funeral 
services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Baptist Church of Beaufort,
with burial in Beaufort Memorial Gardens. Memorials may be made to 
Meadowbrook Baptist Church, 12 Lupo Road, Beaufort, SC, 29907, or to 
Hospice of Savannah. "We all loved the man," Robert Upton said. "We 
all owed him a lot. We always called on him during trying times."
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