Age 92, died Thursday, November 14, 2013 at his home. He was born December 8, 1920 in Dundee, MI, the son of Amos & Mary (Symington) Green.
Lew graduated f
rom Ypsilanti High School in 1936, and from Adrian College in 1944. He attended the University of Chicago and Wayne State University. He continued his education taking graduate courses at Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University. After graduation from high school at the age of 15, he worked as shipping clerk for the Michigan Ladder Company in Ypsilanti. When his parents bought a farm in New York State he worked on adjacent farms to help support his family. He did factory work in Adrian, MI while working on his undergraduate degree at Adrian College. He was a Methodist minister in Ohio, southern Michigan, and served locally at Salem Grove Methodist Church in Grass Lake, MI. He also worked at Arizona State University - Tempe as staff advisor to campus religious groups. Lew was a tireless volunteer for the Chelsea District Library when forming the District and the new library building. He loved the outdoors and had an inquisitive nature. Lew found joy in sharing his discoveries in nature as a middle school science teacher. He taught in the Wayne-Westland School District and Lincoln Consolidated Schools. He retired in 1987 from the Ann Arbor Public Schools, where he taught at Bach and Clague Schools. Lew loved to dance, sing and play golf. He enjoyed the theater and he loved to read. He enjoyed all types of music, but he especially loved to attend Ann Arbor Symphony performances, and programs sponsored by the University Musical Society. He enjoyed traveling, and after his retirement he attended Elderhostel (now called Road Scholar) programs across the United States. He also realized a goal by traveling to Australia and New Zealand. Among his favorite trips were those to Vermont to attend his grandson's Nordic skiing and cross-country meets. He was a member of the National Education Association and Friends of the Chelsea District Library.
In addition to his wife, Mary Green, Lew is survived by daughters, Sharyl Green (Peter Lackowski) of Burlington, VT and Lou Ellyn Green of Chelsea, and daughter-in-law, Connie Green; grandson, Aaron Lackowski; and sisters Hazel Discher and Virginia Parsons; and many nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, Lew was predeceased by his son Lester; 10 of his 12 brothers and sisters; Harold, Margaret Wright, Sadie Chamberlin, Gurtrude Schultz, Lawrence, Bruce, Mary Walton, Merna Green, Amos, and Ruby Klein; son-in-law William Millikin, and former spouse Jean Green.
Lew’s family received friends at the Comfort Inn Conference Center in Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 29, from 1-3 pm, and had a brief time of sharing at 3:00 pm. Donations in Lew’s memory can be made to the Chelsea District Library, 221 S. Main St, Chelsea, MI 48118 or Arbor Hospice Foundation, 2366 Oak Valley Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Arrangements by Cole Funeral Chapel, Chelsea.