Greene, Kathleen Ann Kerger Greene

October 3, 1939—January 12, 2015

In a 1995 class reunion note, Kathleen Kerger Greene answered a question about her campus residences, “Who can remember?” However, one fact that Kathy did recall was that her love for anthropology and archeology was engendered at Grinnell as she worked toward her Sociology major and the B.A. she received in 1961.

After graduation from Grinnell, Kathy enrolled at the University of Colorado, Boulder; in 1964 she earned a Master’s Degree in Anthropology with a specialty in Archeology. In the meantime Kathy had met her future

husband, David L. Greene, also a graduate student in the department, and they married in 1962. After earning his PhD, David taught at the State University of New York, Buffalo, and the University of Wyoming, Laramie. The Greenes returned to Boulder in 1967 when David became a Professor of Anthropology. Kathy also worked as an instructor in the department, for a number of years as Field Director in Archeology for the Summer Institutes in Anthropology, and later developing and grading a number of Anthropology courses in the university’s Continuing Education Correspondence Course Programs. She had a reputation as an outstanding teacher.

While working toward her Master’s Degree, Kathy had experienced hands-on archaeology near Taos, New Mexico, and later at an excavation in an Anasazi prehistoric village at Yellow Jacket, Colorado. Kathy was also member of the University of Colorado Nubian Expedition during 1963-1964. She participated as a field archaeologist with her husband, one of the physical anthropologists on the team. They excavated numerous important archeological sites along the Nile Valley in Nubia, Sudan. Kathy co-authored several research papers on the latter work. Here is a photo of her in the field.

Andrew David Greene, Kathy and David’s son, was born in 1970. Kathy then began to work part time in her field in order to grant time to volunteering at her son’s school and Cub Scout troop. Kathy also devoted time to her widowed mother, who had moved to Boulder in the 1980’s. With her mother, Kathy joined the Boulder Garden Club; she served as president for several terms and remained active for many years.

Kathy is survived by her husband David, son Andrew, his wife Sarah, granddaughter Adilynn, step-sister Sarah, a brother and sister in-law, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Nancy Welch Barnby