One of Dahlonega’s true Southern ladies left this town a little poorer for her passing on March 9. Both as a teacher and an involved member of her church and community, Barbara Anne Green touched thousands of lives during her life.
“Miss Anne,” as many called her, married the love of her life the Rev. “Bob” Green, who served as pastor of Dahlonega Baptist Church (DBC) for 23 years. Anne was also active in the ministry of the church, singing in the choir for more than 50 years; teaching Sunday school for special needs adults; teaching Vacation Bible School; leading a women’s Bible study group in her home; ministering to home-bound seniors; going on mission trips; and serving on the church’s Benevolence Committee. She also volunteered in DBC’s Sunshine Weekday Preschool.
Sherrie Gray, who served as the director of the preschool for six years said “Miss Anne was amazing. She volunteered to read to the children. She was a weekly specials leader. She has such a calm demeanor with the kids. They would just quiet down and listen to her,” she said. “It was amazing what she could do with the kids.”
Anne, a dedicated gardener, also graciously invited the children into her back yard, Gray said. “We’d walk the pre-K kids over to her house and she would tell us all about the beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers."
“She left some big shoes for someone to step up and fill for the children.”
A TRUE TEACHER
Miss Anne had lots of practice working with children prior to volunteering at the preschool. She taught kindergarten in the Lumpkin County school system before retiring after 23 years. One of those she taught 40 years ago still remembers her fondly.
“She was a gem,” said Roman Gaddis, who currently serves on the Dahlonega City Council. “She was always very kind and loving. She was interested in her students as they went through their lives. She sent the sweetest note when our daughter Tessa was born to welcome her to the world.”
Gaddis keeps the note, along with a small child’s Bible she gave him when he was a child and a book she presented him with at his high school graduation.
Anne’s son, Eddie, said the “most common [comment] about Mom from others was that she made them feel special.”
“I thought the world of her,” Gaddis said. “She was a giant of a person; passionate when it was a cause she believed in. She worked very hard for this community. A lot of people don’t know, but she had a big impact on people’s lives.”
Anne’s son, the Rev. Mark Green, saw it first hand.
“Mom was a tireless champion for those in need, a staunch supporter of many non-profit organizations, a willing servant of Christ and His church, and a woman with deep compassion for all,” he said. “She was wise, generous, loving, and always saw the best in people.”
A LOCAL LIGHT
Anne volunteered her time and talents to many service organizations on the national, state and local level. Her work with the DBC Benevolence Committee quietly touched many lives, including seniors to whom she delivered Meals On Wheels.
“She and Bob were part of a rotation of Dahlonega Baptist members who made deliveries,” said Rhonda Bailey, who also ran a route of deliveries. “She was one of the first people I met when I moved here in 1998. She definitely had a light shining from her. She loved the Lord, and her clients. She always made my day. She was a precious and gracious lady.”
But perhaps her biggest impact in public service came from her involvement with the Community Helping Place (CHP). While serving on the board she brought up the need for a free medical clinic in the county at a board retreat, said Joyce Westmoreland.
CHP put the project in its five-year plan. Then Paula Payne, former clinic director and current Director of Development and Operations, came onto the scene. She was the driving force in getting the clinic up and running in about a year’s time. However, Payne said, she would not have been able to accomplish the task without Anne’s help.
“She put me in touch with the right people. She was so respected in the community people were willing to help out. She was critical to getting the clinic going. Everywhere we went she made it easier. She was a power house—she and Dr. [Gene] Westmoreland.”
She also “suggested the tomato sandwich supper as a fundraiser. We were sitting around the table with Paula [Payne] when she suggested the supper,” Westmoreland recalled. “Paula said maybe 30 or 35 people would show up. I said we should expect more than that, that we should prepare for more.”
As it turned out, she was right. About 100 people came to the first event, held in the basement of DBC. After the first year and prior to the pandemic, it took the fellowship halls of three of Dahlonega’s churches to serve the crowds coming to the annual Tomato Sandwich Supper.
Anne and Westmoreland continued to head up the fundraising effort every year, until the coronavirus pandemic hit last year.
One of Payne’s favorite memories is the Tomato Sandwich Supper’s kickoff meetings held for volunteers every year.
“It was always held at Anne’s house, and it was always ham salad with pickles and fruit, and served on her finest China. There was never a paper plate in her house. It made that meeting that much more important,” she said.
“She was noted for her Southern hospitality and charm,” Mark said.
One of Anne’s best attributes, Payne recalled, was her “willingness to be interrupted in what she was doing, to give you her time and wisdom and her whole attention—to be in the moment with you. She was always 100 percent ‘there’ when you talked. That’s hard to find in a person anymore. Everyone seems to be looking at their phone or thinking of something else.”
‘AN ANNE GREEN THING’
Not only was Anne a leader in the annual fundraising effort, she was also the volunteers’ spiritual leader, Payne said.
“We’d be talking about how to raise more money, or logistics, and Anne would bring us back to the real reason we were doing what we were doing. It was an Anne Green thing, to be able to speak one sentence of pure wisdom that was perfect for the moment.”
Anne’s legacy will not only be all those who have fond memories of her, or who have benefitted from her wisdom and efforts unbeknownst.
“We are naming the new clinic in memory of her,” Payne said. “It will be the Anne Green Free Clinic. Her love for the people of the community will go on.”
Anne was interred at Memorial Park Cemetery following a private family funeral service March 13.
Her sons—David, Eddie and Mark, and daughter, Carol Green Seitz—suggest that anyone who wants to honor their mother’s memory can make a donation to the CHP Free Clinic, or DBC’s Jon Green Ministry, Emily Brumbelow Missionary Fund, or the church’s Benevolence Fund.