Fay ז״ל & Dan ז״ל Green

Fay & Dan Green

I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and Danny was born in the Bronx. We met in 1934 but waited to get married until 1942 because of the effects of the Depression. Danny had become friendly with I.D. Blumenthal and in 1947, when Danny joined Radiator Specialty, we moved to Charlotte from Phillipsburg, NJ. We were married for 56 ½ years before he passed away in December of 1998.

I learned about philanthropy at an early age from my parents. Even during the Depression, when things were tough, they always found a way to be charitable. My father managed to save $5 every month to support his nephew and his sister. My mother was a wonderful woman and did her part sewing for everyone. They were very charitable whenever they could be, and even when they couldn’t they figured out a way to instill it in me and my twin brother. That’s why I so strongly believe that no matter how little you may have, you have to give something back to your community.

Danny and I had no children, so we decided to send other people’s children to college since education was so important to both of us. There are things in this community that mean so much to me that I want to continue to support. I want others to know it’s important to do something good for the community. It was important to Danny, as well.

I was not very religious growing up. I had very little exposure to a formal Jewish education. There were no Bat Mitzvah’s back then. When we came to Charlotte we became involved in the Jewish community. Danny served as secretary of the Temple’s men’s club and I was president of the Sisterhood.

We loved Charlotte from the moment we stepped off that airplane. The first question we were often asked was what church we attended. I explained that we go to temple, but people usually didn’t know what we were talking about. Things are much different in Charlotte now than when we first arrived.

The Jewish community is very important to me. Everything I’ve done has been with the temple, through the temple and for the temple. There is no confusion about who I am. I am Fay Green, a member of Temple Beth El. All my friends know I’m Jewish and how important that is to me.


ז״ל Of Blessed Memory



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