Greer Martin Arthur, Jr.

February 15, 1935 - November 18, 2020

Greer Arthur passed away peacefully on November 18, 2020. He was born in Champaign, IL to Olive Simard Arthur and Greer Martin Arthur. His parents called him Jerry but the name did not stick after high school. Due to Greer’s father’s job with Kinney Shoes, they moved often and eventually settled in Long Island where Greer attended Garden City High School. Greer went on to graduate from Lafayette College in Easton, PA and then from law school at Columbia University in NY, NY. After a brief stint practicing law, Greer realized his passion was for business and he joined McKinsey & Co. where he met his lifelong friends, Charlie Smith, Bob Champion and Bob Aresty. His work eventually took him to Paris where he met the love of his life, Veronica Lattman, and courted her with the help of his beloved red ‘67 E-type Jaguar. They married November 30, 1968 and together with Veronica’s children, Alexandra and Vincent, they lived briefly in Connecticut before moving to San Francisco when Greer became president of SSI/Itel Corporation in 1969. Greer’s daughter, Tanya Veronica, was born in 1970 and his son, Greer Martin, III, “Gem”, was born in 1971. They moved down the Peninsula to Atherton, CA in 1973. In 1974 Greer started Trans Ocean Leasing (TOL) with his partner, Marvin Dennis.

TOL grew steadily as they diversified and specialized their containers for the varying ways their customers used them including open top and refrigerated containers. During the 80s TOL began acquiring their competitors and, by 1994, became the 3rd largest container company in the world. With headquarters in San Bruno and 15 offices around the world, they served more than 300 customers and could be found in over 250 depots worldwide. TOL was sold in the late 90s to TransAmerica which left him to focus on Trans Ocean Distribution (TOD), a liquid logistics company that he acquired in the 80s. TOD was also hyper successful and was sold in the early 00s.

Greer always felt the success of TOL and later TOD were due to the talented, committed and creative people that worked there. Greer and his partner, Marvin, spent much time building their team and leading the industry by focusing on “Continuous Improvement” through company training. They were early adopters in personality training which created great bonds between the teams which lasted much past the end of TOL. Greer and Veronica brought together the Trans Ocean family by hosting the infamous Christmas Party even years after the sale of TOL. The company Christmas parties will be sorely missed…

Greer met many of his closest friends through his affiliation with Young Presidents Organization and subsequent groups WPO and CEO. He immensely enjoyed the camaraderie, network and many fascinating and educational trips, several of which he helped to organize and lead. Greer was also active with The Family, the Palo Alto Men’s Club and served on the boards of the San Francisco Opera and The Alzheimer’s Association.

Greer rarely stood still. When he wasn’t working and traveling for work you could find him on the ski slopes, water skiing, river rafting, biking, hiking, driving, playing tennis or golf, playing catch with a football, baseball or frisbee, spending time in Tahoe (among his favorite places on earth), traveling, the list goes on. If there was a competition happening, you could be sure Greer was knee deep in the middle of it. Greer loved wine and enjoyed collecting and learning about wine as much as possible. Some will recall his favorite party trick of pouring an entire bottle into one of his wine glasses.

Greer traveled extensively for work and for pleasure. He spent time on every continent especially Europe and Asia. He was in Berlin when The Wall came down as well as in Moscow at the time the Iron Curtain folded. His family was fortunate enough to join him on many of his business trips and adventures including a once in a lifetime safari in Kenya and Tanzania and a family cruise through the Tahitian archipelago.

Greer passed away peacefully at the Kensington Place where he lived for the last year and a half. He is survived by his wife, Veronica, their children, Alexandra, Vincent, Tanya and Gem, and their eight grandchildren, Ryland, Bergen, Kazimir, Olivia, Caylin, Lowell, Sophia and Greer IV. We will miss him.

The family will be planning a celebration of life some time in 2021.