GREENE–John D. John D. Greene passed away Friday, September 20 at his home in Pine Plains, NY, with his wife and companion of 36 years, Gwen Greene, at his side. The son of the late Sylvia and Leonard Greene, he also lived in Manhattan where he was born and attended Ethical Culture, PS #6, Horace Mann in Riverdale, and then Brown University. He served in the US Army, stationed just outside Paris in Orleans, France. Upon discharge, he returned to New York where he joined his father in starting the Specialist firm Greene & Greene on the floor of the American Stock Exchange. When Options started trading in 1973, he was one of the first Options Specialists, and later joined Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, where he remained a partner until his retirement in 1987. Greene then began a second 30 year career as a painter and sculptor. He studied at both the American Academy of Art and the New York Sculpture Center, the latter under Leonid Lerman, and discovered his true passion for the arts. He became recognized for his use of encaustic (beeswax), painting primarily abstract landscapes noted for their richness of color and surface, and exhibiting throughout the country. Currently, his work can be seen at Windham Fine Arts in Windham, NY, and Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs, NY, and is represented in collections from London to Chennai. He leaves behind his wife Gwen, his daughters Angela Greene and Angela’s partner Rick Padget, his daughter Priscilla Greene, his nieces Amy Puckett and her husband Tor and son Walter, and Julia Wallace and her daughter Savannah, and his sister-in-law Deborah Meltzer and her husband Randy Wallace. Funeral services will be private; the family will have visiting hours at home in New York City on Thursday evening and again at their upstate home on Saturday afternoon. The family requests that any donations you wish to make go to the John Greene Endowed Fund at the Memorial Art Gallery, at the University of Rochester, where Greene has served on the Board for many years and where his Fund supports emerging artists. MAG.rochester.edu/ join/giving/
