Biz Greene

Biz (Mary Elizabeth Ann Margaret Driscoll Greene) wrote the first draft of her own obituary  while on a sailboat, docked in Tonga. She wanted her descendents to know that she would rather walk than ride, anywhere, any time. She walked to school at St. Mary’s and Muldoon High and all over Rockford Illinois. She was born to Irish Democrats Mamie Waugh and L. Alva Driscoll on 6/7/1929, and walked with them and Truman down State Street in Chicago after his victory.

In 1952, 70 years before it was trending, she eschewed convention and fled to the turbid fjords of Iceland, and embraced its lava and ice. Working for the State Department, she carried the diplomatic pouch during the cold war. Weekend pursuits included skiing down glaciers and boat trips up to the Arctic Circle.  Narrowly dodging the amorous pursuits of a Swedish submarine captain, she fell prey to the daily letters (from a Notre Dame graduate with a degree in French Literature) promising intoxicating love and eternal devotion, which after 60 years of marriage, proved to be false advertising.

After raising five uniquely unique children, she got her MA from UMKC to prepare for her work  as a career counselor. She walked to and from Rockhurst University, clocking in 25 miles per week, as she served over 10,000 students in her 25 year stint. In addition to being a Gold Medal winner in Race Walking in the Senior Olympics, she loved to dance. She took many students to Mexico for summer language study and won the racewalking contest at Jeugos de la Tercera Edad in Xalapa. At age 80 she walked along the Great Wall in China and up the 350 steps of the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

In retirement she organized a life-long learning program in Pagosa Springs, the home town of one of her favorite children, Monica. Biz experienced God on the high seas, in nature, in the San Juan Mountains as well as in Benediction and Gregorian chant. She believed in the eternal life of the spirit.

Biz is survived by her grandchildren, Kiley, Dan, Cela, Harper, Mary Grace, Kelly Ann, and John; children Denis, Monica, Brigid and Kate. And was predeceased by her son Mike, (who died in a car wreck at age 22), husband Michael, grandson Ryan, her two sisters and two neices.

Biz transitioned on 7/10/2025. There will be a memorial service on 8/30/2025 at Visitation Church Tighe Hall from 1:30 – 3:30. Her epitaph will be “Adventurin’ On” and her ashes will be interred near her son Mike and husband Michael in the Cleveland, MO cemetery.