My father-in-law, Jim Green, died Saturday morning, quite unexpectedly, and as I write this, I’m in Northeast Arkansas for the visitation and funeral services with my wife Gwen, my mother-in-law Frances and extended family.
I feel compelled to write something about a man I have loved so dearly for the last 16-plus years.
Jim and Frances have been an important part of my life, with the last eight-and-counting years as their son-in-law.
We had just been to Hoxie the previous weekend for his 84th birthday, to celebrate with steaks and cake. before the news came that he was in the hospital, prompting an early-morning drive to the hospital in Jonesboro.
Jim was a survivor, though. As I grabbed clothes and the dog, the thought was, “we’ll be there for a couple of days. Nothing has stopped him before.”
As a child Jim contracted polio, causing paralysis. He was taken back and forth from Hoxie to Memphis for treatments. Telling that story, he recalled the German POW camps that dotted the farmlands in northeast Arkansas with the Nazis working the fields.
Those groundbreaking polio treatments ultimately let him walk again.
He kept going and growing, marrying Frances in 1962.
Jimmy, their son, came along a year later, while Gwen took her time, and made an appearance a decade later.
They were married for 62 years.
Frances kept him going.
Right before their 50th wedding anniversary, Jim had a heart attack, then open heart surgery, and later had a pacemaker put in.
The doctors saved his life then, and we were all grateful.
The last 12 years, well into his retirement after teaching for nearly three decades at Hoxie High School, where he was simply known as Mr. Green, were among the more eventful years of his extraordinary life.
He gave his daughter away at our wedding.
He saw his granddaughters get married, with the first coming with two bonus great grandchildren, then another great grandson, who carries his name.
He was happy, and he was content.
He'll also be missed.
At the funeral home making the arrangements for this week, the funeral director called Jim and Frances pillars of their community, and they are.
Jim was the guy who fried fish as fundraisers for his school, his church – Hoxie United Methodist – and Wayland Spring Methodist camp in northeast Arkansas, among many others.
He also fried up fish for family meals that came with these just incredible hush puppies, that were somehow light and airy, while being crisp and delicious.
I never quite understood how he pulled off that trick, since his cooking never really came with recipes or precise measurements, just eyeballs and a lifetime of experience.
He really loved to cook. And he really loved to feed his family.
He would always prepare meals for the holidays, and a staple was his cornbread dressing that would be moist and delicious, and was closer to a savory bread pudding than the Stovetop variety I grew up on.
This week has also brought back a flood of emotion for other reasons, as I remember my own father, lost 31 years ago, and some memories I didn’t want to recall anymore.
It will be difficult this week as we gather, and it will be more difficult when we gather for Thanksgiving this month and for Christmas next.
The memories we have are good ones.
Jim was a Dude.
As handy with a duck call as a fishing pole.
He always called Hoxie home, but in their 40s, he and Frances started taking trips and cruises with friends and family. They were walking on glaciers in Iceland earlier this year.
There were family trips to New York City and Alaska that I will particularly cherish.
There will be a Jim-sized hole in my heart, but life will go on, with our memories for company.
If you’re the praying sort, I’d ask for those, and regardless, tell the ones you love how you feel. Hug them tight, because sooner or later you won’t be able to. But until then, just be there when you can.
The obituary is below.
Jim Green
James William (Jim) Green, 84, of Hoxie, died Nov. 2 in Jonesboro. Born to Herbert and Julia Mae (Hughes) Green on Oct. 29, 1940, in Hoxie, he was a lifelong resident of the town.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Frances (Weir) Green, of the home; one son, Jimmy and wife Valarie Green, of Walnut Ridge; one daughter, Gwen Green and husband Jeremy Peppas, of Little Rock; two granddaughters, Sarah Manning (Aaron) of Walnut Ridge and Olivia Middlecoff (Casey) of Bono; and great-grandchildren Rylee, Luke and Markum Manning; one brother, Bob Green, of Jonesboro; many nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
Mr. Green was Mr. Hoxie. Growing up, his grandfather and father operated A.B. Green and Son Grocery in the heart of town. He attended Hoxie during the 1955 integration and was a member of the Hoxie High School Class of 1958. His first full-time job was at Railway Express in Hoxie.
He lived in the same home on the corner by the school for six decades. For 28 years, with his wife, he was a teacher and bus driver at Hoxie until they retired together in 1995. They then worked together for five years at the Northeast Arkansas Education Cooperative.
He was a lifelong member of the Hoxie United Methodist Church, where he was a tenor in the choir and beloved for his renditions of “Mary’s Little Boy Child” at Christmas and “Mother Machree” on Mother’s Day, a member of United Methodist Men and a long-time trustee.
In his younger days, he served in the National Guard and on the Hoxie Volunteer Fire Department, and in retirement, he was an active member of the Wayland Spring United Methodist Camp board. He cooked many fish fries and spaghetti dinners for school and church and relished preparing meals for family and friends. He was a member of the Hoxie Masonic Lodge No. 692 for more than 50 years.
An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed hunting ducks and deer, fishing and gardening. He was a sports fan, and his team through thick and thin was the Dallas Cowboys. He loved to sing and to listen to Gospel quartets.
He and Frances took many special trips with family and friends, including cruises and vacations to Alaska, Hawaii, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, New York City and Iceland. He celebrated milestones and holidays with the Birthday Bunch, a group of special friends who lived their lives together over the decades.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his grandparents, Arthur and Nettie “Sally” (Coats) Green of Hoxie and W.S. and Kate (Ruffner) Hughes of Alicia, his brother, Tom Green, and his sister, Judy Belk.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Hoxie United Methodist Church. Funeral services under the direction of Bryan Funeral Home will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, at the church, followed by burial at Lawrence Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Terrell Downing, Lonnie Smith, David Belk, Mark Belk, Terry Howard, Ric Wilcox and (honorary) Lanny Tinker, with Rev. Jeremy Hopper and Rev. Bob Hager officiating.
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A life so sturdy: Remembering Jim Green
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This is hard.
My father-in-law, Jim Green, died Saturday morning, quite unexpectedly, and as I write this, I’m in Northeast Arkansas for the visitation and funeral services with my wife Gwen, my mother-in-law Frances and extended family.
I feel compelled to write something about a man I have loved so dearly for the last 16-plus years.
Jim and Frances have been an important part of my life, with the last eight-and-counting years as their son-in-law.
We had just been to Hoxie the previous weekend for his 84th birthday, to celebrate with steaks and cake. before the news came that he was in the hospital, prompting an early-morning drive to the hospital in Jonesboro.
Jim was a survivor, though. As I grabbed clothes and the dog, the thought was, “we’ll be there for a couple of days. Nothing has stopped him before.”
As a child Jim contracted polio, causing paralysis. He was taken back and forth from Hoxie to Memphis for treatments. Telling that story, he recalled the German POW camps that dotted the farmlands in northeast Arkansas with the Nazis working the fields.
Those groundbreaking polio treatments ultimately let him walk again.
He kept going and growing, marrying Frances in 1962.
Jimmy, their son, came along a year later, while Gwen took her time, and made an appearance a decade later.
They were married for 62 years.
Frances kept him going.
Right before their 50th wedding anniversary, Jim had a heart attack, then open heart surgery, and later had a pacemaker put in.
The doctors saved his life then, and we were all grateful.
The last 12 years, well into his retirement after teaching for nearly three decades at Hoxie High School, where he was simply known as Mr. Green, were among the more eventful years of his extraordinary life.
He gave his daughter away at our wedding.
He saw his granddaughters get married, with the first coming with two bonus great grandchildren, then another great grandson, who carries his name.
He was happy, and he was content.
He'll also be missed.
At the funeral home making the arrangements for this week, the funeral director called Jim and Frances pillars of their community, and they are.
Jim was the guy who fried fish as fundraisers for his school, his church – Hoxie United Methodist – and Wayland Spring Methodist camp in northeast Arkansas, among many others.
He also fried up fish for family meals that came with these just incredible hush puppies, that were somehow light and airy, while being crisp and delicious.
I never quite understood how he pulled off that trick, since his cooking never really came with recipes or precise measurements, just eyeballs and a lifetime of experience.
He really loved to cook. And he really loved to feed his family.
He would always prepare meals for the holidays, and a staple was his cornbread dressing that would be moist and delicious, and was closer to a savory bread pudding than the Stovetop variety I grew up on.
This week has also brought back a flood of emotion for other reasons, as I remember my own father, lost 31 years ago, and some memories I didn’t want to recall anymore.
It will be difficult this week as we gather, and it will be more difficult when we gather for Thanksgiving this month and for Christmas next.
The memories we have are good ones.
Jim was a Dude.
As handy with a duck call as a fishing pole.
He always called Hoxie home, but in their 40s, he and Frances started taking trips and cruises with friends and family. They were walking on glaciers in Iceland earlier this year.
There were family trips to New York City and Alaska that I will particularly cherish.
There will be a Jim-sized hole in my heart, but life will go on, with our memories for company.
If you’re the praying sort, I’d ask for those, and regardless, tell the ones you love how you feel. Hug them tight, because sooner or later you won’t be able to. But until then, just be there when you can.
The obituary is below.
Jim Green
James William (Jim) Green, 84, of Hoxie, died Nov. 2 in Jonesboro. Born to Herbert and Julia Mae (Hughes) Green on Oct. 29, 1940, in Hoxie, he was a lifelong resident of the town.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Frances (Weir) Green, of the home; one son, Jimmy and wife Valarie Green, of Walnut Ridge; one daughter, Gwen Green and husband Jeremy Peppas, of Little Rock; two granddaughters, Sarah Manning (Aaron) of Walnut Ridge and Olivia Middlecoff (Casey) of Bono; and great-grandchildren Rylee, Luke and Markum Manning; one brother, Bob Green, of Jonesboro; many nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
Mr. Green was Mr. Hoxie. Growing up, his grandfather and father operated A.B. Green and Son Grocery in the heart of town. He attended Hoxie during the 1955 integration and was a member of the Hoxie High School Class of 1958. His first full-time job was at Railway Express in Hoxie.
He lived in the same home on the corner by the school for six decades. For 28 years, with his wife, he was a teacher and bus driver at Hoxie until they retired together in 1995. They then worked together for five years at the Northeast Arkansas Education Cooperative.
He was a lifelong member of the Hoxie United Methodist Church, where he was a tenor in the choir and beloved for his renditions of “Mary’s Little Boy Child” at Christmas and “Mother Machree” on Mother’s Day, a member of United Methodist Men and a long-time trustee.
In his younger days, he served in the National Guard and on the Hoxie Volunteer Fire Department, and in retirement, he was an active member of the Wayland Spring United Methodist Camp board. He cooked many fish fries and spaghetti dinners for school and church and relished preparing meals for family and friends. He was a member of the Hoxie Masonic Lodge No. 692 for more than 50 years.
An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed hunting ducks and deer, fishing and gardening. He was a sports fan, and his team through thick and thin was the Dallas Cowboys. He loved to sing and to listen to Gospel quartets.
He and Frances took many special trips with family and friends, including cruises and vacations to Alaska, Hawaii, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, New York City and Iceland. He celebrated milestones and holidays with the Birthday Bunch, a group of special friends who lived their lives together over the decades.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his grandparents, Arthur and Nettie “Sally” (Coats) Green of Hoxie and W.S. and Kate (Ruffner) Hughes of Alicia, his brother, Tom Green, and his sister, Judy Belk.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Hoxie United Methodist Church. Funeral services under the direction of Bryan Funeral Home will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, at the church, followed by burial at Lawrence Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Terrell Downing, Lonnie Smith, David Belk, Mark Belk, Terry Howard, Ric Wilcox and (honorary) Lanny Tinker, with Rev. Jeremy Hopper and Rev. Bob Hager officiating.