John Greene

John Thomas Greene

John Thomas Greene, 83, of Lake Ozark and St. Peters, Missouri, died peacefully on Jan. 30 after a struggle with Parkinson's disease dementia.

John had practiced law in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, for many years before moving in 2007 to Missouri, where his wife, fellow Knoxvillian Kay Henderson Greene, has family.

John will be remembered for his warm and genial manner; a love of baseball, billiards, and golf, all of which he played, along with Senior League softball; an enthusiasm for multiple musical genres combined with an exceptional bass voice that stood out in church choirs and karaoke sessions, not to mention family singalongs and country solos covering George Jones and other greats; and an irreverent sense of humor paired with a sometimes quizzical mind—he said more than once he wanted his epitaph to read, "What was that all about?"

John was born May 30, 1941, the first child of John William and Senta von Schrenk Greene. He attended the former St. Mary's School, then Knoxville Catholic High School. Once graduated, he served in the United States Marine Corps, was based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and spent time with the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. He was also part of a force deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.

After the Corps he earned bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, worked at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and as a lawyer for the company in New York City, then returned to Knoxville to represent plaintiffs in personal injury cases through the Law Offices of J.D. Lee. He was deeply committed to seeking justice for his clients.

Besides his wife, Kay, the former Kathryn Monica Shepherd, he is survived by daughters Sharon (Doug) Greene Bitzer of Knoxville, and Rachel Leah Greene, of Irvington, New York, and Knoxville, both from a previous marriage to Marianne Kelly Greene, of Knoxville; stepsons Charles (Terri) Raymond Henderson III and Timothy (Lesli) Frederick Henderson, both of the St. Louis area; and brothers and sisters Susan (John) Alma Bennett, of Lexington Park, Maryland, Catherine Virginia Greene, of Knoxville, Richard (Alice) William Greene, Knoxville, Robert (Elizabeth) Trifon Greene, Arlington, Virginia, Thomas Anthony Greene, Memphis, and Senta (Jonathan) Victoria Greene, Nashville; and many more loving friends and relatives. To his siblings he was and always will be "Johnny."

He was preceded in death by his parents and a son, John William Greene II.

Arrangements were made by Baue Funeral Home of St. Charles, Missouri, and Berry Highland Memorial cemetery, 5315 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919. A Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for 11 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 22, at Immaculate Conception Church, 414 West Vine Ave., Knoxville, Tennessee 37902. Interment will follow immediately at Berry Highland Memorial, where a reception for a Celebration of Life will then take place.

Memorial donations may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association.