Don Green Obituary

Green

Don Anthony

Green

August 16, 1931

October 19, 2021



After completing his corporeal sabbatical, having mastered all the mediums of earth, great artist and deific giant Don Green ascended on October 19th, 2021, to furnish the veil with his craft so that all of us may be blessed with it when we inevitably follow him into the boundless beyond. Until then, we are moved to mourn, but only briefly, as Don's footsteps are tremendous, and his spirit would find solace in knowing that we continue to walk alongside them, continuing, even in grief, to create, as he did selflessly for over 90 years. The expanse of Don's creation is much too prolific to record in writing, as his shadow stretched long and far across this planet, the sun as his halo – he was, after all, born beneath the celestial Leo, his lion heart an amulet of the star's fervid fire. In his time among the sublunar, he was many things; it seems his task here was to experience all of this world's many paths and translate the human condition into the universal language of art. He was a student, not just in youth, but in his entirety – learning, always, indefinitely, as all curious souls do. He was an educator, dedicated to the immense generosity of sharing – sharing knowledge, sharing stories, sharing faith and love. He was a serviceman – honorably discharged, endowed with the burden of this world's violence, perhaps for the higher purpose of being a prophet of peace. He was a leader – patient, and wise as only the sublime can be, with a softness, a gentility, humbled to be prodigal. He was a husband – devout and adoring of the love of his life, matriarch Maxine Green, whom he joins now in euphoric eternity. He was a brother – graced with the opportunity to share space, time, and blood with six siblings. He was a father, not just by relation, but by choice – and more than that, a mentor, a beacon, an unmovable stone of safety, grounding an entire vastness of kinfolk, who even now lean on his steadfast presence, perhaps less physical now but continually there, always there. And it is this anthology of kin, drawn to Don's glow over nearly a century, that may be his life's finest and most elaborate work. The Green family, intertwined not just by name but also by spirit, by heart, by even having simply met him – the assemblage of people he graced is immeasurable, and no longer tied to the constraints of mortal life. To write of this far-reaching flock is to write of all artists, creators, beatniks, maestros, savants, revolutionaries, eccentrics, sophists, apostles, and dreamers; past, present, and beyond; and before them is a monumental duty to love, and hope, and carry Don's flame, as nothing, not even death, can snuff it out. This fire will burn long into the night. It always has. And though the dark is strange and unfamiliar, somehow there is comfort in knowing that even if morning ceases to come, the shadows will always be alight with torches, ignited and tended to by Don, who knew the warmthand strength of fire so closely in life that he became it.

A celebration of Don's life will be held at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Colorado Springs on December 28th, 2021, beginning at 11:25am. Inurnment will follow mass at Evergreen Cemetery.