Hi all-- Here is the lovely remembrance written by Bob's family. Bob
survived a serious car accident in September, but, despite early hopeful
signs, his injuries were too much to conquer. He lived a full and wonderful
life, and the contra and ECD communities will miss him greatly.
Robert D. Green
March 4, 1950 - November 11, 2024
Robert Douglas Green, known as Bob to his friends, was born on March 4th,
1950 in Pasadena, California. Always one to make an entrance, Bob surprised
his parents with his arrival, being much younger than older siblings Don
and Peggy. Bob was known throughout his life for both his exuberant
mischievous energy and his care and compassion for others. Growing up, he
was a Boy Scout who loved to tinker and mend things and who loved to be in
community with other people as much as possible. As a proud Pasadena
native, he liked to brag that he played in the Rose Bowl because his high
school football team used the Rose Bowl as their home stadium.
Bob moved to Missouri in the 1970s to study spiritual practice at the Unity
Village in Kansas City, and would make his life in Missouri from then on.
Bob spent his entire career working in mental health and was a fierce
advocate for those with mental illness, taking his first job at an ad hoc
community drug rescue organization called The Ecstatic Umbrella. From
there, he worked at Western Missouri Mental Health Center (where he met his
first wife), Rockhill Manor Residential Care Facility, and then Scarritt
Place, a care facility for people with mental illness that he owned and
operated. Bob’s career took a brief detour through nursing home
administration while he went back to school to receive his bachelor’s
degree from Park University (from which he graduated cum laude at the
timely age of 59). He finished out his long career working for the State of
Missouri as a mental health case management supervisor.
Bob was especially proud of the three daughters—Sarah, Leah, and Emily—whom
he raised with his first wife, Carol Bahmueller, in Blue Springs, Missouri.
Bob was a proud “Girl Dad” before there was a term for it. He was a regular
fixture at community theater plays, Science Olympiads, softball
tournaments, choir performances, speech tournaments, and gymnastics meets
through the years. He bragged endlessly about the accomplishments of his
three girls to anyone within earshot.
Bob danced through life in every way he could. He first became interested
in dance thanks to his brother Don’s involvement in folk dancing in
California. Once his children were grown, Bob poured every bit of his
exuberant energy into the St. Louis contra dance community, where he was an
enduring presence. He met his beloved wife Martha through contra, and they
spent 30 years as dance partners. Alongside Martha, Bob could be found
nearly seven days a week dancing, calling, choreographing, running sound,
and otherwise devoting himself to the joyous pursuit of all things Contra
(and Morris and English and Waltz…), frequently traveling to dances across
the country. When he wasn't dancing, Bob was an avid cook, the proud author
of the recipe book *COVID Dishes: A Pundemic Cooking Experience* (available
on Amazon). Always an activist, Bob also spent time in his retirement
volunteering for local progressive political campaigns.
Bob was a man who never knew a stranger, who was quick to pun and quick to
laugh (often laughing at his own jokes before he could finish them) and
quick to lend a hand when he saw a need. Over the years he took in many
strays—be they cats, dogs, rabbits, chipmunks, or people needing a place to
shelter for a while—and touched a truly enormous network of lives with his
energy.
Bob’s life was taken from him too early, but he passed peacefully with
Martha and his three daughters at his side, listening to a waltz by
Stringdancer, Martha’s contra band. He was laid to rest in a “Green Burial”
(*ba-dum-tss*) service at the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis,
Missouri. He is survived by his wife, Martha Edwards, his brother, Donald
Green, his three daughters: Sarah Spencer, Leah Baruch, and Emily Green,
and three grandchildren.
He leaves behind a legacy of joy, caring, compassion, humor, and light. He
can be honored with donations to the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS),
the St. Louis Childgrove Country Dancers, or the National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI).
A celebration of Bob's life is being planned in St Louis for early 2025.
I'll post that.
Keith Tuxhorn
Springfield IL