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Col. Eugene E. Greeson, resident of New Mexico since 1942, died Friday night, September 15, of the complications of old age after a long and meaningful life. He was born April 7, 1914, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Lewyl E. Greeson and Judith Irene Burgess. He was raised in and around Birmingham, then, as a young man moved with his family to Arlington, Virginia, where he attended business school and worked as a private secretary to a congressional lobbyist. In the aftermath of the Depression, he saw a military career as a way to extend his education: After first serving in the Navy, he joined the Army Air Corps Cadet Program. During World War II, he was stationed in the Philippines as part of the highly decorated 19th Bombardment Squadron. In 1942, he was posted to Clovis Air Force Base. It was there, in 1944, that he met and married Elizabeth A. Manson, daughter of Edward L. Manson and Alice Mattingly. Thereafter, he left active service, but continued in the Air Force Reserve while beginning a long career working for the U.S. Federal District Court, first as Court Reporter, then as Deputy Clerk and, from 1966 until retirement in 1973, as Clerk of the Court, under the tenures of Judges Hatch, Mechem and Bratton. In retirement, he was active in the Serra Club of Albuquerque. After his wife's death in 1987, he renewed his interest in travel, visiting family and friends in Canada, Germany, and throughout the U.S., and playing golf on courses as far afield as Hawaii and Scotland. The great disappointment of his last years was having to give up golf due to deteriorating eyesight and muscular coordination. He couldn't pass up reading anything fit to print, but was partial to history and politics and particularly enjoyed crime fiction and westerns. At his wife's instigation, he played duplicate bridge, but felt a lot more at home with poker. Throughout his life he was a enthusiast of hunting and fishing, and those activities along with golf and poker formed the basis of many of his friendships. He spent his happiest times in the companionship of family and close friends, sharing a fine meal and good wine. One of those friends described him a true gentleman, reflected throughout his life in his values and his quiet, modest demeanor. Gene is survived by his daughter, Judith and son-in-law, Rolf Mirus, and his grandsons, Benjamin and Justin Mirus of Edmonton, Canada, as well as his brother, Lewyl Greeson of Arlington, Virginia. The family is grateful for all the care and support given him by extended family, especially his niece, Sheryl Evans, by close friends and neighbors, and by the staff of SunBridge Mission Manor and Sandia Hospice and by Dr. David Ewing. A memorial mass will be celebrated on Saturday, September 23, 11:00 a.m., at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 7500 Paseo Del Norte NE. Strong Thorne Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent in his name to the Christian Foundation of Children and Aging, One Elmwood Ave., Kansas City, KA 66103.
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