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Joseph Edwin Green

Born: 8/15/1933
Died: 4/20/2023
Age: 89
Community: Flint, MI

Green, Joseph Edwin of Flint Twp., age 89, died Thursday, April 20, 2023, surrounded by family. He was a man of genuine goodness which he expressed through his art and in so many other ways. Every day Joe offered small gestures of courtesy and kindness to friends and strangers alike. That’s how he lived his life. That was his quiet gift to the world and his legacy.
Joe was born in Flint, Michigan on August 15, 1933, the son of Bernard Thomas and Rosella Agnes (Flynn) Green. He married Margaret Mary Foley on December 30, 1961, and she preceded him in death on December 26, 2001. He married Jeanette Mansour on July 21, 2004, at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Flint.
He served in the U.S. Army and shortly after attended the Baseball Umpire School in Florida, an experience which gave him countless hilarious tales for story-telling. He graduated from Mt. Morris St. Mary’s High School, attended Flint Junior College and received his bachelor and masters degrees from Eastern Michigan University. Joe began his career by teaching art in the Ferndale (Michigan) schools, and then returned to Flint where he taught art and was a middle school counselor with the Flint Community Schools for 32 years. He worked at both Lowell and McKinley schools and the Flint Kennedy Center, counting his colleagues among his closest friends. Upon his retirement, he returned to teaching art, this time to adults at the Flushing and Grand Blanc Senior Centers.
A lifelong resident of Flint, Joe was a well-known and respected watercolor artist in the Mid-Michigan area. He exhibited at the Flint Institute of Arts, Left Bank Gallery, the Greater Flint Arts Council, Lansing Museum of Art, annually in February at Fandangles, the University of Michigan, and the Ella Sharp Museum and Gallery in Jackson. Additionally, his works hang in private collections throughout the Midwest, Maine, California, France and Ireland. In April 2016, Joe was inducted into the Michigan Watercolor Society. His paintings were inspired by travels in Europe and the US, particularly Coastal Maine and Nova Scotia.
More than anything, he loved his family and friends and designed his life to be with them as much as possible. Together with Jeanette, Joe enjoyed traveling, including to Ireland, Europe, the Middle East, and Cuba. Closer to home, he spent treasured hours on the golf course in the company of old friends, and in his later years, he learned to play the guitar at the Flint Institute of Music gathering new friends along the way. He was an avid sports fan - especially of the Detroit Tigers. He was a gifted story-teller, always sharing colorful experiences of his life. He loved all things Irish, especially the poets, people, and landscapes which brought him abundant artistic inspiration. He continually looked for the beauty in everyday objects - boats, barns, harbors, windows, alleys, and stairs - in order to tell their stories in his paintings. He mentored hundreds of artists, young and old alike, with the gentle, encouraging approach he used throughout his teaching practice and life.
Joseph is survived by his wife, Jeanette; children, Margaret Ellen Green and wife Pam Colon, Michael and wife Lynne Pace Green; grandchildren, Isabella Pace Green and Fiona Maeve Pace Green; siblings, Barbara O’Neil, Rosellen and husband Jim Vigna, Gail Reading, Mary Agnes Fitzgerald, Martin Green; and many nieces and nephews, cousins, and dear friends including the extended McAlear family.
A memorial Mass will be 11 a.m. Saturday, July 15, 2023, at St. Matthew Catholic Church. Fr. Anthony Strouse will officiate. A Celebration of Life gathering will be held 5-8 p.m. Friday, July 14, at Rossell Funeral Home. A Rosary will be prayed at 7 p.m. A private burial will take palce at Sunset Hills. If desired, memorial contributions may be made to Catholic Charities of Shiawassee and Genesee Counties, 901 Chippewa St., Flint, MI 48503; Community Foundation of Greater Flint for local art and music scholarships, 500 Saginaw St. Suite 200, Flint, MI 48502, or a charity of your choice.
Joseph’s family would like to express their deep gratitude to the hardworking and compassionate medical staff at Hurley neuro-ICU and Mclaren ICU Hospitals with very special thanks to Dr. Abd Alghanem, Dr. Saed Sahouri, and Dr. Silvia Seoane.

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  Rossell Funeral Home
307 E Main
Flushing, MI 48433

Phone: (810) 659-6342

Web Site: http://www.rossellfh.com

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Visitation
Date:   7/14/2023
Time:   5:00 PM
 
Funeral Service
Date:   7/15/2023
Time:   11:00 AM
 
Location:   St. Matthew's Catholic Church
706 Beach St.
Flint, MI 48502

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Official:   Fr. Anthony Strouse

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