Eric Keith Greene

Eric Keith Greene, 55, of Kansas City, Kansas transitioned to his heavenly home on October 18, 2016. Homegoing services will be held Saturday, October 29, 2016 at the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, 1220 Walker Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas.  Every generation produces a gentle giant who advocates for a better society. Our generation had Eric. He was an advocate, an activist, a mentor, a writer, a historian, an educator, a seeker of truth and justice. Eric was a deeply spiritual person who committed himself early in life to “seek to save them that are lost”, “to bind up the brokenhearted”, “to proclaim liberty to the captives”. Eric had a heart and talent for helping others. Even in the Navy his calling to teach and help others could not be denied. His last couple of military orders included teaching total quality management and working as a substance abuse and transition counselor for sailors who were having trouble adjusting to life. He created programs while with the Indiana Department of Health, spreading community awareness in an effort to curb the impact of HIV and other STDs.  He also taught in inner city Kansas City, Kansas and Richland County (Columbia, South Carolina) public school systems, specializing in work with children with behavioral and family challenges. He showed this same passion while working at the Indianapolis Boys and Girls Club where he facilitated and implemented a conflict resolution program for at-risk inner city youth. A key component of Eric’s program included outreach to the parents or guardians of the youth he reached.  While working for the Kansas Department of Labor, Eric would take a mobile unit out into the community to help people get registered for work and job training. He mentored youth in the FBOE (Fringe Benefit of Education) program at Kansas City Community College and was a major advocate for energy efficiency as a Certified Energy Auditor. Eric, a talented athlete, teacher and singer who spent his life in service of others was born on Dec. 2, 1960, in Kansas City, KS, the fourth child of Bob Greene of Portland, Maine, and Katherine Bowins of Indianapolis, Indiana. He was a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School (Indianapolis) in 1979, attended Hartnell College in Salinas, Calif, on a basketball scholarship and received a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Limestone College, Columbia, SC. He retired after 20 years in the U.S. Navy and served in combat during the first Gulf War. Family was everything to Eric. He worked tirelessly tracing his ancestral roots and connecting with newly found kin. He was the quintessential “favorite uncle” to a host of nieces and nephews (and any other child his life path crossed). In his own words, he was “bigger, faster, stronger” and was the “greatest of all time”. Anyone who spent any time at all with Eric would hear his proclamation: “God is. And there’s nothing he is not”.  He was preceded in death by his mother Katherine Bowins Greene. He is survived by his father, Bob Greene of South Portland, Maine; children Helen Taylor Perez of Winchester, California; Erica Smith of Atlanta, Georgia; Eric Greene II of Kansas City, Kansas; and Malik Pride of San Antonio, Texas; granddaughters Nakyria Greene, Atlanta, Georgia; Michaela Perez of Winchester, California; siblings Robert Greene III of Columbia, South Carolina; Michael Greene of Ontario, California; Leslie Greene of Indianapolis, Indiana; and Stacey Bowling of Jacksonville, Florida; nieces Syreeta Dunn, Jasmine Greene and Jadee Scarver; nephews Rob Greene, Corey Coleman, Michael Greene II, Jordan Greene, Julius Greene and Joshua Greene; his aunt, Shery Greene, and a host of other family members and devoted friends.