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

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