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- Portland Press Herald, Maine, 18 Mar 1998
Elizabeth Betty Bassett Greene
Elizabeth Betty Bassett Greene, 94, died here Sunday. She had been ill a long
time following a stroke. Mrs. Greene was born in New York City, daughter of
Dr. Philip C. and Margaret Beaumont Thomas, graduated from the Ethical Culture
School, received an A.B. from Vassar College in 1925 and an M.A. from Columbia
in 1928. She began teaching at the Rye Country Day School outside of New York,
then moved to The Buckley School for Boys in New York City and Milton Academy
outside Boston. In 1928, she married Charles Chase Bassett of Cleveland. They
moved to South Bristol in 1962 when Mr. Bassett retired. Both had vacationed
at Christmas Cove there from an early age with their families. The Bassetts
lived in Cambridge and Belmont, Mass. She taught at the Belmont Day School
until they moved to Cleveland in 1941, where she taught at the Park and Laurel
schools for 19 years. Her high standards, broad interests and respect f
students gained her a reputation for fairness and excellence in the classroom.
After Mr. Bassett died in 1965, she married Franklin Greene of South Bristol
and Beaufort, S.C. He died in 1981. Mrs. Greene excelled in basketba
college, won the Christmas Cove women's tennis championship at 16, became a
skilled figure skater and passed her silver-dance and first-figure tests at
age 60. In her later years, she enjoyed golf. Throughout her life, she was an
enthusiastic gardener and avid reader, and continued to learn about nature,
particularly about geology. She was active in all the communities in which she
lived. In South Bristol, she served on the Miles Memorial Hospital board and
volunteered with the hospital's Memorial League and at the Rutherford Library.
At 80, she passed the the test to become a First Responder. Mrs. Greene made
many trips to Europe and had visited Kenya, Egypt, Scandinavia, the Soviet
Union, the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands and, at 85, visited Chile and
the Falkland Islands, and Alaska. Surviving are three daughters, Linda Johnson
of South Bristol and Shaker Heights, Ohio, Helen Gurland of Northport, N.Y.,
and Elizabeth Welles of New York City; a stepson, Alexander Greene of Brandon,
Vt.; a stepdaughter, Nancy Miller of Salem, S.C.; nine grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren. A private service will be held. Burial will be in
Harrington Meeting House Cemetery. A gathering will be held from 3:30 to 5:30
p.m. Saturday at Moosewood, 298 S Road, South Bristol. Arrangements are by
Strong Funeral Home.
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