Charles Lester Green

Charles L. Green

August 20, 1923 - August 17, 2019

Charles L. Green was a man of almost endless talents. His parents, Lawrence and Adina Green (nee Jantz), moved to the Grand Valley during the Great Depression, having been displaced from their large, prosperous farm, which was absorbed by the Dust Bowl. Charlie had been born in Hesston, Kansas August 20, 1923, the fourth of 11 children. He "fired the boiler" at Kuner Empson tomato processing plant while he went to school and then graduated from Fruita Union High School. As a new graduate he took a job as "front room chemist" for Uravan Uranium Mill. 
He graduated from Southwestern Bible College in Waxahachie, Texas in 1945, with the distinction of having been the only student with a car, a typewriter, and a bicycle. He worked his way through school doing night shifts as foreman of a munitions assembly line during WWII.

Charlie married Janice Meeks in 1944 and they pastored in East Texas, before returning to Colorado. In Grand Junction, he worked as a watch maker, master electrician and master gas-fitter. In 1953, he started his own contracting business, along with appliance sales and service. For years the business, Valley Gas and Electric, was on the 1200 block of North Avenue. Over several years, Charlie purchased and piloted six Cessna aircraft, flying equipment, payroll and employees to various job sites in 12 mountainous Western states. Charlie also received a letter of commendation from the Federal Aviation Administration for saving the lives of four adult men in a newly purchased Cessna 182 crash in upper Kannah Creek on Grand Mesa when the engine failed due to carburetor design error.
In Grand Junction four children were born to Charlie and Janice: Deyon Stephens (Don), Lynn Green (Martha), Charlotte Pollard (Ron), and Greg Green (Debbie).

Charlie loved poetry and often quoted humorous poems at length. He was an accomplished musician playing baritone, trumpet, acoustic and steel guitar, often in the context of their home church, First Assembly of God at 4th and Grand in Grand Junction.

In 1975 Charlie and Janice began winding down the successful business, so they could volunteer with Youth With A Mission. After training in Lausanne, Switzerland, they returned to pioneer and establish YWAM Colorado up the Big Cimarron Valley, which they directed for 20 years. In those two decades, they impacted the lives of hundreds of young people, many of whom would know them as the best father and mother figures they would ever have. After turning the youth training center to younger leaders, they purchased El Rancho Cimarron, a small family resort, which they operated for seven years. 
They returned to Grand Junction to live full time in 2003. Charlie and Janice celebrated 75 years of marriage in June. He is survived by his wife and four children; 15 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

Memorial Service to be held at 2:00 p.m. at Canyon View Vineyard Chapel, Sunday, September 8, 2019. Refreshments will be served.
 

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