NORFOLK

It was 1939, and the Unitarian Church of Norfolk stood on the corner of what was then 15th Street and Moran Avenue when Elise Green became a member.

Through the years, the church would move many times before settling on Yarmouth Street, but there was always one constant. Elise Green was, in many ways, its foundation, its quiet voice of reason, its compass.

“Whenever you needed advice or there was controversy, you got Elise’s outlook on things,” said church member Ron Buck.

Until her death Dec. 13 at age 93, she was the oldest member of the church as well as its longest-serving member . “She was a Southern lady without the baggage,” Buck said .

The virtues that her legion of friends admired – her serenity in the face of any situation, her openness to different views, her passion for learning – seemed a part of her from the beginning.

As a young girl growing up in Richmond, Green would hop on a bus several times a week, go the library and bring home a stack of books to plow through. Unable to afford college, she graduated from secretarial school and landed a job during the Depression, beating out some 250 applicants.

At 18, she fell in love with and married her boss, Sam Green, who was 20 years older. They had three children before divorcing in 1953.

Elise was a woman of many accomplishments. She was a potter, a gardener who grew enormous camellias, a painter, a world traveler, a supporter of the arts, a student of yoga.

But perhaps her greatest talent was the ability to relate to people of all ages . “She always met you where you were,” said Phyllis Stein, a friend for nearly 50 years. “She found the common ground.”

Said Linda Smith, some 40 years younger than Green: “She made it so easy to be with her. I loved going to her house. Classical music would be playing. She would tell you about the latest book she read or she’d give you one. She had such optimism, even at 90.”

Green served on the church board and many committees, but she was also available to stuff envelopes or do whatever else was needed. In her later years, she hardly missed a Sunday, even if she needed a walker.

“I met Elise when I was 28,” said Stein. “She was then, and remains, the most centered, stable and serene person I have ever known.”

Fred Kirsch, (757) 446-2484,  postscripts@pilotonline.com [1]