Kathleen Green

Kathleen R. Green, 73, Independence, MO passed away Friday, June 28, 2013. Kathy was born June 13, 1940 in Kewanee, Illinois to Haydn and Florence Roberts. Her brother claims that she was also part dog. She spent her early years in Kewanee and later moved to Edwardsville, Illinois where she graduated from Edwardsville High School in 1958. After high school, she moved to Independence, Missouri where she attended nursing school at the Independence Sanitarium and Hospital. She passed her Nursing Board Examination and became a Registered Nurse in 1961. Her specialty was surgical nursing, and she worked in the operating rooms at the Sanitarium until she retired. She met Dr. John Richard Green in the course of her nursing career and they married on July 13, 1963. She and John lived out their entire married lives in a house they built in Independence. She died at the Kansas City Hospice House on June 28, 2013. As a surgical nurse, Kathy developed passions for helping others, attention to detail, and the value of life in general. Her caring nature was manifested in her marriage, attention to patients, strong relationships with family and her many good friends, and her beloved pet dachshunds. Attention to detail is critical in surgery, where mistakes are unacceptable and potentially could cost someone their life. This same attention to detail carried over into all her activities and dealings with people; everything was always taken care of in a prompt and accurate manner. Her value of life was perhaps her strongest trait and accounts for her successful fight against cancer for over three years, her care of husband John over the last years of his life when he was in poor health, her love of nursing, her love of family and friends, and her love of animals and generous support of organizations benefiting animals. Her personal life was devoted to activities with John, her friends and family, hobbies, travel, and volunteer work. She and John were Chiefs and Royals fans and attended games whenever possible. They went on several trips in the US and abroad and enjoyed fishing, gardening, cooking and virtually anything else they could do together. She could outfish most men, and that is one of the reasons John fell for her. After John’s health made travel difficult, she continued to take trips with her many close friends. One of her favorite activities was reading and she always had a stack of library books and had several loaded into her Nook. Some of her favorite memories were of the family vacations to Colorado in the summers. These trips typically included her parents and brother Mike, John and her immediate family, and extended family including nieces and nephews. Many of her activities on these trips included fishing, hikes to alpine lakes and time to relax and enjoy life in general. In short, they encompassed many of the things that were most dear to her. She adored her three grandchildren and loved to surprise them with gifts. Kathy found time to be in involved in a variety of community and professional organizations. She was a member of the RLDS Church, ISH Nurses Alumnae and RLDS Professional Nurses Association where she was a board member for eight years. She also
belonged to the IRHC Auxiliary (served as VP, Secretary and many chairmanships), Medical Auxiliary of Independence (many offices) and Jackson County Historical Society. Her love of dachshunds naturally led to her membership in the National Miniature Dachshund Club where she co-owned a miniature dachshund show dog in the Heart of America Dachshund Club. Kathy was the supreme organizer. She organized and largely ran the household by herself largely out of necessity since John’s work as a general surgeon occupied the bulk of his waking hours. She was a buyer for the gift shop in the hospital and organized trips with friends, activities in the hospital’s Women’s Auxiliary, class reunions, holiday gatherings and just about everything else she was associated with because she enjoyed it and was good at it. To her, the skills needed here were essentially the same as required for setting out instruments to be used in any given surgical procedure - everything had to be there on time and in its proper order. To complement her organizational skills, her memory was simply phenomenal. She could remember minute details of events occurring decades ago, people’s names, important dates, what things cost, quotes, songs, movies, every place she had breakfast for the last 73 years, who ate what when, and virtually everything that happened around her. Although she had a vast array of tangible skills and abilities, she valued her personal relationships more than anything else. Her love of John, family, and close friends (including pets!) was all she needed for happiness. This love was evident in the way she dealt with people, the pictures and cards which decorated her home, the memories she recounted over coffee, and in a thousand other ways. In return, this is the way she will be remembered by those who knew her and is the way she would want to be remembered Kathy’s husband John preceded her in death in March of this year, 2013. She is survived by one brother, Michael Roberts; three cousins, Phil Roberts, Pat Collins and Michelle Fisher; stepdaughter Constance Ann Green; stepson John Brian Green; daughter-in-law Judith Ann Green; and three grandchildren, Laura Beth Green, John Patrick Green, and Kristin Ann Green. A memorial service for Kathy will be held on July 13, 2013 at Speaks Suburban Chapel, 18020 E. 39th Street, Independence, MO 64055. Visitation will be from 1:00 - 2:00 pm, with the service from 2:00 - 3:00. Inurnment will follow. Donations may be made in her name either to the Great Plains SPCA or the Salvation Army.