Gracia Green

Gracia A. Green was the beloved wife of the late Donald C. Green, the dear mother of Russell (Dianne), and David (Ginger) of Carrollton, GA; Laura Juilly (Brett) of Sarasota, FL; Wendy Pastor (Jim Richardson) of Louisville, KY; Megan Hensley (former, Sandeep Bhatia) of Shaker Hts., OH and James Green (Pamela) of Durham, NC; loving sister of Robert Geier (Mary) of Naples, FL, and the late Davia McGaw (Jack) of Oxnard, CA, and Ronald Geier of Medina, OH, and the proud and caring grandmother (Nana) of Ellysa Pastor; Ian and Devan Bhatia; Azrielle, Jack, Tess and Olivia Marino; and will be missed by extended family and treasured friends. Memorial service and reception will be held for family and friends at Plymouth Church of Shaker Heights, on October 12 at 12 noon. 

Gracia was born on Flag Day: June 14, 1939, to Ronald and Harriet Geier of Lakewood, Ohio, where she was raised. She joined older siblings Davia and Ronald, and was followed by her younger brother, Robert (Bob, residing in Naples, FL with wife Mary). The family enjoyed some adventures when they traveled for her father’s writing jobs. When they lived in the Daytona Beach area when Gracia was in elementary school, she made great memories of seeing dolphins nearby as she and her brothers floated on rafts in the ocean. They also traveled to Colorado Springs when her father was making a film about the fight between Colorado and other states for water rights in the mid-1950s. She attended Lakewood Schools and is a graduate of Lakewood High School, where she enjoyed participating in choir and the theater programs. After high school she took some classes at Western Reserve while working. She welcomed daughters Laura, Wendy, and Megan with her first husband, Raymond Hensley, with whom she had moved to Bedford, Ohio.

Gracia married Donald Green in 1969 and with whom she had her fourth child, James Green, now of Durham, NC. Don and his first wife Janice had two sons, Russell (Russ) and David, who had also attended Bedford City Schools, so as a blended family, Gracia and Don had 3 boys and 3 girls. Don was raised in East Cleveland, was a graduate of Shaw High School, a combat veteran from WWII, and was a founding member of South Haven United Church of Christ on Northfield Rd. in Bedford. They remained members there until Don’s death in September 2002. Don worked most of his career as a letter carrier, first for Shaker Hts, then at the Bedford Post Office, and in retirement, enjoyed watching Jamie play college golf. When all their children were growing up, they were active and involved parents, including Don’s time as PTO President at Central Elementary School, and Gracia’s as a Girl Scout leader, and time spent attending countless plays, concerts, and games of all sorts. Like so many others, they were Bedford Band Boosters, volunteering at the concession stand at the football games on Friday night – until it was time to rush near the field to watch the Bedford Bearcats Marching Band at half time. Later they ran the “Chuck Wagon” food truck at Bedford Glen’s field for baseball games before food trucks were cool. The family fondly remembers many summers at Dunkirk UCC Family Camp, and a couple motor home adventures to see Grandma Green in St. Petersburgh, Florida.

Gracia was instrumental in starting and running a summer lunch program for neighborhood children in Bedford and a Meals on Wheels program at South Haven Church. She was a frequent volunteer at Central Elementary School, helping start an after-school enrichment program there in the 1970s to help families with “latch key kids”- who would otherwise be home alone after school. She volunteered at Reach Out, a mental health program in Solon, Ohio. A full-time parent when the children were young, she worked full time outside the home as they got older. She was the director of the summer playground program in Bedford, worked in development at New Directions, a youth alcohol and drug rehab program, in the financial aid department at John Carroll University, for a phone company training people in the “new” BP Building in Cleveland, and with the US Census in 2000, as well as a dedicated poll worker and supervisor in many, many elections. One job of which she was most proud was being the director of a KinderCare childcare facility, because she cared so much about children and the importance of their wellbeing. She and Don were over the moon to care for their first granddaughter, Elly Pastor, for much of her childhood in the 1990s in Brecksville, and Elly was blessed to have the non-stop audience of and adoration of them both.

Gracia fostered decades-long friendships, several starting at Bedford Schools. She and Don held book club gatherings with friends in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, setting a great example of discussing meaningful topics and often having heated debates and disagreements, which their friendships endured.

Gracia was crushed to lose the love of her life, Don, in 2002. One thing that helped her manage that loss for many years was participating in the poetry, non-fiction and memoir writing classes offered by her dear friend Linda Tuthill through the CWRU Association for Continuing Education (ACE) program. She was enrolled in these classes for about 20 years until 2021 and cherished the experiences and her many friendships made in these classes. The participants concluded most class sessions/series with pot-luck gatherings. Her classmates enjoyed Gracia’s chili, brownies, and banana bread. She was a talented writer, in the Erma Bombeck style, drawing on her life experiences and finding humor and healing through the process. In this, she followed the example of her father, who was a writer, ad man, and documentary film writer.

Gracia was also a voracious reader and lifelong learner, passing on these passions. She instilled in her children a love of music, and especially, of live performances, sparked by taking them to Harry Chapin concerts at The Front Row Theater, and herself attending Peter, Paul and Mary shows with Don at Blossom Music Center. Decades later, in 2017, she was thrilled at seeing Peter Yarrow at Nightown in Cleveland.

She enjoyed experiencing the world both through the adventures of her children and sometimes with them. The kids all graduated from college and thrived over the years in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Colorado, Vermont, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Kentucky. She and Don were grateful to have had many adventures visiting them, including to Los Angeles to see Laura and with Don, traveling to the Grand Canyon with Jamie, to see Russ and David who settled in Georgia, and to Vermont and Maine with Megan, plus later family trips to Disney and the Smokey Mountains. They enjoyed spending a couple of springs in Myrtle Beach, supporting Jamie’s college golf team that was playing nearby, and exploring Hilton Head and Mystic Seaport with Wendy’s family.

Gracia lived in Bedford for 52 years, until moving to be near Megan and her family in Shaker Heights, Ohio in 2015. Gracia enjoyed 6 years living at the Greenbriar Apartments, where friends from her Forum book discussion group lived. She was thrilled to gain 4 grandchildren when Jamie and Pamela married. She marveled at the art and musical talents of Azrielle, Tess and Olivia, and hearing of Jack’s successes with wrestling, golf, and of their college successes. She treasured the visits to see them in NC and was grateful for their trips to Cleveland for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Once she settled in Shaker Heights, she thrived being close to grandsons Ian and Devan Bhatia. She was a dedicated and delighted fan at their countless band concerts, recitals, plays, Christmas Pageants, baseball, soccer and basketball games and golf matches. She shared her brownies and chicken salad, wisdom, and love. She taught Sunday School at Plymouth Church and continued her writing classes. Ian enjoyed engaging conversations with Nana about his college classes, and Devan was entertained by visits and calls with her, when her humorous and playful nature came out. In her last week, she was pleased and a bit in awe to know that Devan was just settling into his freshman year of college.

Very sadly, in 2021 she had lost vision in one eye, which in part led to one, and then several falls, and decline over the past three years. Gradually losing the ability to read and write was particularly devastating, but Gracia continued to find joy and comfort in music, family, and knowing that she could bring comfort to others in offering small expressions of kindness. Her children and grandchildren gathered to celebrate her 85th Birthday in June, which brought her much joy. Very sadly, in late June-August, Gracia endured a hospitalization and further health struggles. She was boosted by July visits from Devan, Jamie, Ian and Russ & Dianne. Her loss is felt deeply, as is her love. May her memory be a blessing.

The family will welcome family and friends at a Memorial Service and Reception at Plymouth Church of Shaker Heights, 2860 Coventry Rd, at noon on Saturday, October 12, 2024. Those who wish to honor Gracia are invited to make gifts to South Haven Church of Bedford, Plymouth Church of Shaker Heights, or Bedford City Schools, 475 Northfield Rd, Bedford, OH 44146.