William J. Greene

William J Greene, age 77, of Seminole Florida, died Monday, April 19, 2021 at home, holding hands with his beloved wife of 57 years, and with his two loving daughters by his side.  He was born in 1943 in East Palestine, Ohio, the youngest son of Harold and Florence Greene.

He is survived by his wife, Crystal (née DeSilva), daughters Kimberly (Kenny) Graft, Valerie Greene, grandchildren Cryssie (Ben) Ware and Colton Ware and his eldest brother Edward Greene.  He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Richard, and sister Patricia.

Bill joined the Navy right after high school graduation, and served in the Navy as a SeaBee primarily stationed in Bermuda, where he met the love of his life, Crystal.  They were married on February 6, 1964, and remained best friends during their 57 years of marriage.

This started his 20 year career as a heavy equipment operator, which he continued after returning to Ohio.  While working in the construction field, he began attending evening computer classes at Youngstown State University, first to learn Ancient Greek to get a better understanding of God’s Word, and continuing on to receive his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.  In 1984, he moved to Sunnyvale, California, and worked in Information Technology with his brother-in-law Frank Phillips at Westinghouse.  Frank was very influential in his career, and his encouragement and advise was appreciated.  After two years in Silicon Valley, with his wife missing family in Ohio, he accepted a position at Consumers Water Company in Boardman Ohio, where he worked for the remaining 20 years of his career, holding various Information Technology and Security positions.  He was always appreciated for his integrity, calm demeanor even in trying times, and his excellent engineering mind.

While his work life was always important to him, it was after being led to the Lord by Pastor Wayne Meadows of the Free Methodist Church in New Middletown, Ohio, in 1976 that led to him understanding the only purpose of his life was to bring God Glory.  This led to a close friendship / mentorship, which lit a spark in him to serve the Lord to the best of his ability in everything he did.  He also enjoyed attending the New Springfield Church of God in Ohio (and its men’s group).   While in Florida, he faithfully attended the Indian Rocks Baptist Church.  There, he was a member of the Empty Nesters connection group, who have truly shown God’s love to Bill and his family with their faithful and generous service during his final months.  Bill led by example, and became a wonderful mentor for many others over the years.  His final words to his family were “God is in control.”

Bill valued his family tremendously and they were always his priority.  We all enjoyed laughter, coffees, meals, travel, and prayer together.  The original “girl dad”, he was always the first person his daughters turned to for comfort and advice.  His grandchildren were also very important to him, and their shared interests like baking and deep conversations were very meaningful.  He truly enjoyed his early morning coffees with his son-in-law on the camp porch, along helping him with work projects.  His many prayers for all of us was his greatest gift.

He had so many varied hobbies and interests, which he always did to best of his ability and with great enthusiasm:

• Enjoying a great cup of coffee from Starbucks and people watching, whether at the mall or on the beach.
• Taking after his grandfather who was a tailor, he made his daughter Kimberly’s wedding dress (and it was beautiful!)
• He took an interest in leather working and after retirement made several intricate bull whips, which were so impressive.
• He loved to create delicious meals, primarily using cast iron. His speciality was preparing our annual Christmas brunch, but he also created wonderful sourdough bread from scratch, cast-iron apple pies, and orange-cranberries scones, to name just a few.
• He loved electrical wiring and problem-solving, and could be counted on to solve any technical or mechanical issue that presented itself. He was of the generation that fixed things instead of replacing them.
• He volunteered for many years at the Free Methodist Church in New Middletown as the “Sound Guy”, recording the service, transferring to CD’s, and generally assisting with all technical things.
• He loved learning more about God through his Word, and sharing that knowledge. He often said that his job was to plant the seed with whoever he met, and God would water it.

He will be greatly missed, but we take comfort knowing that we will meet again in Heaven.

A funeral service will be held Monday, May 3rd at 10:00 am at Indian Rocks Baptist Church, 12685 Ulmerton Road, Largo, FL 33774. Interment will follow at 2:00 pm at Bay Pines National Cemetery, 10,000 Bay Pines Blvd., Bay Pines, FL 33708