Ellen Cathryn Greene

Ellen Greene was born on December 6, 1959, in Suffern, NY. She was a remarkable woman with a strong conscience, moral compass and character, who loved fiercely, laughed loudly, made others laugh spontaneously, spoke directly and from the heart, and strived in every way to help make others happy and make the area of the world within her purview a better place.

Ellen always projected confidence, self-assertiveness, and an audacious sense of humor that was magnetic. In 1986 Joe Greene was drawn to her by that magnetism and, four years later they became a devoted husband/wife team for 36 years. It was also then, when they lived in the New York Metro Area, that Ellen achieved one of her early dreams of a college degree by earning a BS in business administration from Dominican College. She put herself through school while she worked a full-time job, her husband commuted 3 hours a day from NJ to NYC, and she secured day care for what by then were her three children.

When Ellen’s family moved to Shawnee, Kansas in 1997, this native New Yorker naturally felt like a fish out of water. Determined to make a life for herself, she took control and threw herself into her community, becoming the president of her children’s school’s PTA, earning a certification and then volunteering as a Master Gardener, building her home garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, volunteering rigorously for Meals On Wheels, establishing a cookie baking business she named Greene Sweets (with a tag line of “You Can Taste the Love”), and creating a book club for the women in her neighborhood that continues to flourish. For the last 15 years of Ellen’s life she, her husband and adult children have lived in the Denver area.

Ellen’s husband frequently referred to her as “a force of nature.” Recently, she was described by a friend as “such a bright beaming ray of joy.” Both descriptions, and more, are true. Several friends suggested she go through her daily life with a tape recorder around her neck to capture her spontaneously funny “material” that she could use to begin what everyone was certain would be a flourishing stand-up comedy career. Ellen’s passing leaves a deep chasm many of us still cannot fathom and still are trying to navigate, but we are so grateful to have had our lives enhanced by her presence, energy and the love she freely gave us. She leaves behind a legacy of love for her husband, her children, and her friends, as well as that of volunteerism, charity, humor and the importance of helping others.

Ellen left us on January 23, 2026. She was predeceased by her parents William Edward and Helen McPhillips King, and her sister Patricia “Tish” Angel. She is survived by her husband Joe Greene, her three children Paul Langway III, Josh Greene, and Sam Greene, her sister Denise Fried, as well as her two grandchildren Cole Wesley Friberg-Langway and Elliot Lynne Friberg-Langway. Donations in Ellen’s name can be made to I Support the Girls, The Point Foundation and/or Smile Train.