BETTY J. GREEN

Betty Joan Guilmenot Green was born to Richard Arthur Guilmenot and Millie Evers on September 4, 1931 in San Antonio, Texas.

She led a pleasant and protected childhood, frequently visiting the family’s farm in what was then called West San Antonio Heights. The family homestead on West Martin street was frequently filled with laughter and intense though good natured debates over everything from the origins of various words to the politics of the day.

Betty Joan, as she was known to family and friends, attended Mar Hill/Grant Elementary School, Paul Lawrence Dunbar Junior High School, Wheatley High School, St. Phillips Junior College and Tillotson College. While still in High School she first saw her husband, William Terrell Green who was a Master Sergeant in the Air Force. They became close and in love quickly, marrying while she was attending Tillotson. They briefly lived in the San Francisco area before moving back home to San Antonio.

Into this marriage were born three children: Dianne Yvonne, Stephen Terrell and Michael Lloyd. Betty was an incredible young mother who not only tended to her own children but also assisted a neighbor with a terminal illness in raising her children. She was the kind of mother who nurtured her children’s physical, spiritual and intellectual development. Her motto was if you don’t know something…”look it up”. This philosophy led to the family having two dictionaries (one being an original Webster’s Dictionary) and not one, not two but four sets of encyclopedias. Very few folks knew she was an avid roller-skating maven during her early adulthood…she taught us at the roller-skating rink on Lackland Airforce base.

She more than succeeded in her goal of being a fantastic mother but she was also a highly skilled seamstress/dressmaker designer using her talents to augment the family budget. She held a part time job at Mrs. Belshire’s shop during our early childhood and preadolescence. She was a caseworker at Ella Austin Community Center and the job melded into work as an administrative assistant to the director Delores Bradley.

Betty Joan Green was nonetheless destined to return to the arena of design this time as an interior designer and furniture salesperson for Jorri’s Furniture Store where she became the company’s first female and African American salesperson. She later moved to Honeybloom Furniture Store and then the Dianne Flack Interior Design Firm. Betty Joan Green was also dedicated to the improvement of her community. She and her husband founded the Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association and she worked diligently to ensure this historic neighborhood got its fair share of city resources. She joined and also served on the administrative board of St. Paul United Methodist Church where she remained a member until her passing. She was a charter member of the St. Paul Development Corporation. She was the first president of the Development Board for the Carver Community Cultural Center and chaired one of its earliest Cavalcade of Stars. She was an avid member of the Phyllis Wheatly Alumni Association Class of 1948 and of the St. Paul Book Club.

Her family always came first. She leaves to mourn her children Dianne, Stephen (Rosalind), Michael (ShaRonderia);bonus son Jean Jacques (Karine) and grandchildren Charles, Stephanie, Mariah and Mionna; Great-Grandchildren Daryn and Janelle; nieces and nephews: Joseph (Charlotte); Charlotte Jean, Earl, Denise, Bridgette (Derrick); Richelle Lenior (Juan), Angela Guilmenot and Sally Agusta Lowe along with a host of friends and extended family as well as those she loved and mentored.

She is preceded in death by her loving parents, her loving husband, William T Green, her siblings Angeline, Mildred Orville (Boyfriend), Richard Arthur II (Joya), Max A (Charlotte) and Warren Allison.