Wanda Greene
Wanda McKinney Greene, 90, formerly of Chattanooga, died on October 21, 2014.
She was born May 21, 1924, to the late Charles A. McKinney and Pearl North McKinney in the family home in Cleveland, Tennessee. She was the youngest of seven children born to her parents. Three of her siblings died before she was born. Her other brothers and sister were Clyde A. McKinney of Cohutta, Madeleine McKinney of Chattanooga, and Roy C. McKinney of Chattanooga, all of whom preceded her in death.
She is survived by her daughter Sherrill Greene Hill of Fayetteville, Ga., and son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Anne Greene of McKinney, Tx. She is also survived by six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and one great great-grandchild.
She started school in the community of McDonald between Chattanooga and Cleveland but moved with her family to Chattanooga where they resided in Brainerd. She graduated from Central High School in Chattanooga in 1942 and married the late Luther Watson Greene that same year. The first 13 months of marriage were spent apart as her husband served in the Army in the South Pacific as an infantryman. After his return from the South Pacific in 1944, they set up housekeeping in Arlington, Va., where he was stationed. She worked for the Army Signal Corps in Arlington until the month before the birth of her first child and returned to Chattanooga. She and Watson bought land in East Ridge and built a home where they raised two children and where she lived for the next 63 years. In 1958 she went to work for Tennessee Valley Authority in the secretarial pool and retired from there in 1988 as an engineering aide.
Immediately upon retirement from TVA she began going on mission trips with various mission organizations taking Bibles into numerous countries where they were hard to come by. She also visited many countries where she was involved in presenting the Jesus Film, and enjoyed handing out Arabic Bibles to people boarding the ferries to Africa from the port cities of Algeciras, Spain and Marseille, France, among others. She never lost her love of giving away Bibles.
Wanda was an active member of the Spring Creek Road Baptist Church for more than 70 years. She served as a Sunday School teacher for many years and sang in the choir. She also served as the church historian and wrote the history of the church. She loved music and played the piano. In addition to singing in the church choir she was a member of the Billy Graham Crusade choir during the Graham crusade in Chattanooga in 1952. She loved traveling and visited about 50 countries in every continent except Antarctica.
The family will receive friends at Chattanooga Funeral Home East Chapel from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, and from 9-10 a.m. on Monday at Spring Creek Road Baptist Church, 1312 Spring Creek Road, East Ridge, with the funeral following at 10 a.m. with Reverend James Julian and Reverend Robert Keatts, grandson-in-law, officiating. Interment will follow in the Chattanooga National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Wanda M. Greene to the International Mission Boar, IMB – Development, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, Va. 23230, or online by visiting imb.org and click on GIVE then on the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering link.
Arrangements are by the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory, and Florist, 404 South Moore Road.
Please share your condolences atwww.chattanoogaeastchapel.com.