Remembering Billy Greene: a true Starkvillian
On Saturday, March 11, Charles William “Billy” Greene peacefully passed. He was 94-years-old.
A proud native and lifelong resident of Starkville, Greene had many fond memories of growing up.
A graduate of Starkville High School's Class of 1947, Greene was named Mr. Starkville High, Most Outstanding Senior, and he even donned the nickname “The Golden Toe” due to his ability to throw and kick the football quite well for the SHS Yellow Jacket football team.
After high school, Greene began his collegiate studies at Mississippi College where he played football, and then he furthered his education at the University of Mississippi and was a member of Kappa Psi honorary pharmaceutical fraternity and Sigma Chi social fraternity.
After he graduated from UM in 1951 with his pharmaceutical degree, Greene immediately entered the United States Air Force, where he utilized his education and served his country during the Korean Conflict in Tachikawa, Japan from 1951-1953. He entered as a 2nd lieutenant in the medical corps and served in hospital administration and as a pharmacy officer. He was also able to add a few more years to his football career as a kicker for the Air Force football team.
When he returned home in 1953, he then served as a civil service pharmacist at the Columbus Air Force Base. He became coowner of the Hartness and Redus Drug Company in Starkville and went on to open a second store, Southdale Drugs, as well as serve as the hospital pharmacist for Felix Long Hospital and was also the director of pharmacy at OCH Regional Medical Center for 20 years.
Not only was Greene one who served Starkville's pharmaceutical needs, but he was also one who served its civic needs by serving on various committees and local government bodies such as the Board of the Oktibbeha Chamber of Commerce (i.e. co-chairman of the Retail Merchants Committee, Transportation Communication Committee, Education and Commerce Committee), American Legion, the City Park Commission, and served as Ward 1 representative of the Starkville Board of Aldermen. He was also a board member and chair of The Merchants & Farmers Bank. He served on the Salvation Army Advisory Board. He was a member of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), and he also had the opportunity to attend the National War College in Washington, DC in June 1998.
His family described him as a man who loved Starkville and her people, and valued God, family, people, and community.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Hugh Greene and Bertie Kolb Greene, his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. James Kolb of Sturgis, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Richard Greene of Ackerman, brother, Hugh Greene, who passed away in infancy, his sister, Loydale Greene Jones, brotherin-law, Ernest E. “Country” Jones, of Starkville, nephew, Roger Jones, of Houston, Texas, brother James Robert “Hot” Greene, sister-in-law,
James Gourlay, a world renown tubist, at the 2019 International Tuba/euphonium Conference (ITEC) at the University of Iowa. Alexander said Gourlay, an adjunct professor of tuba at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh who also is a leading performer, teacher and academic and a member of some of Europe's finest orchestras, suggested the instrumentation and that they try and schedule the piece for the next ITEC. There hasn't been a live conference since the COVID-19 pandemic. The group would consist of Gourlay, Joanna Ross Hersey, Danielle Moreau and Danielle Vantuinen.
“Ruffner Mountain Express” is a six-part trumpet ensemble piece that earned its name from Ruffner Mountain, a privately held, 1,040-acre urban nature preserve in Birmingham). Alexander said he often performs in recitals with Dr. James Zingara, a trumpet teacher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and last December we played on a show in Gainesville, Georgia. While preparing for the concert, we talked about me writing a piece for his group, the UAB Trumpet Ensemble.
Alexander completed both pieces in late December 2022 and is looking forward to having both performed.
“I need to write large chamber ensemble pieces and both pieces fit that bill,” Alexander said. “Even more important than the piece, having James Gourlay ask to write a piece is a dream come true.”