By Rusty Bradshaw
Independent Newsmedia
The Sun Cities lost a good friend.
Jim Green, 82, an active community member for many years, died March 17 following a long illness. He leaves a strong legacy of advocacy and support for Sun City and Sun City West, according to those who worked with him.
“Jim was the sort of gentleman for whom everyone seems to have a kind and/or humorous story,” said Steve Bjornstad, Rotary Club of Sun City president. “He rarely failed to touch the lives of everyone he met in an amazing and positive way.”
Jim Green, left, receives the "Friend of the Sun Cities" award from Paul Herrmann during the Sun Cities Historical Society gala fundraiser last year.
Mr. Green was a 21-year member of the Sun City Rotary Club, having served through its rotation of officers — including president — and moving on to higher office in Rotary International. But no matter how far up the ladder or how many causes he was involved in, he found time to help others.
“I moved to Arizona just three years ago and immediately become involved with the Rotary Club of Sun City,” Mr. Bjornstad said. “When I accepted their invitation to become their current club president, Jim became my ‘Obi-wan.’”
Mr. Green was a tireless advocate for the causes that he believed would make the world a better place, according to long-time Rotary-mate Jim Hargrave.
“He had a profound effect on everyone he met,” he said. “Whenever we were together I was always proud when he introduced me as his good friend.”
Mr. Green made it his business to learn about the Sun Cities as it helped him in his work not just with Rotary but with the Sun City Community Fund and the historical society, his other two major Sun Cities causes.
“If Jim didn’t know something about Rotary and the community of Sun City, it probably wasn’t worth knowing,” Mr. Bjornstad said.
Mr. Green earned a BA in mass communications from The Ohio State University, where he roomed with Jack Nicolas; an MA in counseling from Kent State University; and PhD studies in counseling psychology from Case-Western Reserve University.
His professional career spanned all phases of development — annual, capital and planned giving. He began his career at Lake Erie College, Painesville, Ohio and then he moved to University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington; and Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, New Jersey.
He came to the Valley in 1981 and was Thunderbird Global School of International Management corporate relations director; and Phoenix Urban League development director. He first became active in Sun City in 1996 as Sun Valley Lodge resource development director. He was also a Sun Cities Historical Society board member.
Mr. Green is perhaps best know for his work with the Sun City Community Fund, first serving on its board then as president. He was instrumental in getting the fund under the Valley of the Sun United Way umbrella and later arranging to have the Sun City Home Owners Association administer the Community Fund’s special needs fund.
Other community agencies he was involved in included the Sun City Visitors Bureau, the West Valley Art Museum, Benevilla and the Northwest Valley Chamber of Commerce, now the Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce.
I” didn’t work, as we call work,” Mr. Green stated in a February 2017 Sun Life article. “My life was exciting, if was different every day, and I met fantastic, passionate people who helped me all along the way. The world was my playground.”
He joined Rotary International at the Sun City club in 1997. Within Rotary, he served in many positions, club president, District 5490 Area 4 assistant governor, Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona president and District 5490 governor. He rarely missed RI’s annual international conventions, regardless of where in the world it was being held.
Mr. Green led a Group Study Exchange Team to Brazil in 2005, and with the help of 20 other Rotarians throughout the district, he chaired the Brazil GSE Team experience in District 5490 the following year. He was actively involved with his club’s Washington High School Interact Club, which is one of the largest Interact Clubs in the world. He was an eight-time Paul Harris Fellow.
Mr. Green presence will be sorely missed.
“Whether a leader in the community or a young adult looking to make the world a better place or a high school student simply learning to fit in, Jim was always the same — an encourager, mentor and champion,” Mr. Bjornstad said. “Service Before Self is a Rotary motto, which all Rotarians seek to live by and which Jim Green personified.”