Mr. Richard Thomas Green

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Richard Thomas Green. He will be greatly missed by those he left behind: his siblings Carol Cullen, Julie Blackburn (Phil Blackburn), and Eddy Green (Bonnie Green); his parents Alan Green and Joyce Harding; all his nieces and nephews; and all many friends he made, and kept, throughout his life, friends made while growing up in Lynn Valley in North Vancouver, and in Toronto, where he was born, and where he returned to again and again, in spite of his claims that he just wanted to live alone in a cabin in the woods. He may have preferred the big city because being the strong but not in any way silent type, Rick could only go so long without talking someone’s ears off. To meet him was to know him. He would share his life with you to the extent that you would allow him to do so. He might tell you how he could fix a fan belt with a pair of pantyhose and would shock the women whose cars he was attending to when he asked them to sacrifice their stockings. Or how he built a cabin in the woods outside of Port Moody where he lived for 6 months, until it got too cold and too lonely. Or how he use to race down Bathurst Street on his bike from St. Clair to catch the ferry to the island just as it was pulling out of the dock trying to get to his job as a marine mechanic at the RCYC on time after staying out too late at the El Mocambo, then Vesta Lunch for double ham and eggs. Or about his road trip out west with partners in crime Paul and Ron (all reunited now, partying we presume), streaking their way across the mountaintops of the Rockies so the tourists in the gondolas would get their money's worth. Or how he traveled to Europe with his tools on his back and found work repairing the cars of coal miners in Wales. He might brag that he kept a harem of ex-girlfriends with whom he remained life-long friends. And he might admit that his favourite tv shows were game shows because, he would explain, he liked to see people win. What he might not tell you is that when the Bob Marley was cranked up, he would break out into his happy dance of joy, eyes closed, fingers snapping, smiling. And that he would laugh with abandon so that you couldn’t help but laugh with him. And that he would invite the homeless into his home and provide them with a meal, clean clothes and a bed for the night. A celebration of life was held upstairs at his old haunt, Amico's Pizza, on December 2, 2016, where friends and family gathered to pool their photos and stories, to piece together Rick’s restless life, and to dance to Bob Marley. Rick's remains have been dispersed to where he most loved to be - Jamaica, the Costa Alegre in Mexico, the valleys of North Vancouver, and with his beloved Mom, Joyce.

Mr. Richard Thomas Green

November 6, 2016