Obituary of George D. Green

George David Green

1920 – 2019

George David Green, born November 14, 1920 to Alexander David and Helen Galbraith Green of Clydebank, Scotland, passed away February 10, 2019 in Chapel Hill, NC.

His life journey brought him from Scotland through Canada to the United States after World War II, where he married Victoria Ellen Cozzoli of Plainfield, NJ.  George is survived by a sister, Ada McDonald of Cambusland, Scotland, and her husband Dr. Clive McDonald, and many nieces and nephews in the US and Scotland.  His wife Victoria, his parents, his brother, James H.M. Green, and his sister-in-law Isobel Green, preceded him in death.

An engineer by trade, George was a respected gentleman who participated with the Masons and Lions Associations.  He became a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in the 1960s, an affiliation he kept up long after retirement.  His career began with the Singer Sewing Machine Company and Ferranti Technologies in Scotland which led eventually to his long years with the Cozzoli Machine Company in the US.

George had suffered eyesight problems since childhood, an inherited genetic condition affecting the retina, and endured numerous eye surgeries to keep his vision, though only as early surgical technology allowed.  Eyesight did limit his level of participation at times; but despite that, he was an avid reader, passionate about golf, walking and skating.  His sister Ada has happy memories of being taken at 8 or 9 years of age to the ice rink on a Saturday where with great patience George taught her to skate.  And as more than one affectionate friend noted, he was an excellent host and delightful guest, who had a gentleman’s innate sense of the 5 o’clock cocktail hour.

George always had strong feelings for family and deeply appreciated the warm welcome he received from the Cozzoli family when he married his beloved Victoria.  All in his extended families—Green, Cozzoli, DiLiddo and Jannuzzi here in the US and Green, McDonald, Jamieson, and McAulay of Scotland—viewed George as a loving, caring, generous and witty man for whom there is much love and admiration.

A memorial gathering and service will be held on March 9, 2019 at 10 am at Higgins Funeral Home in Watchung, NJ; interment will follow in Hillside Cemetery in Plainfield.

In lieu of flowers, please send tributes in George’s name to the Jim and Betsy Bryan Hospice of UNC, Medical Foundation of North Carolina, P.O. Box 1050, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514-1050 or online at go.unc.edu/unchospice.