Remembering Dr. James (Jim) A. Green

A celebration of Jim’s life will take place at BCC on Sunday April 23rd at 5pm, and
in San Francisco at a later date. Rabbi Lisa Edwards and Cantorial Emerita Fran Chalin will be leading the service here.

The memorial service will be followed by a light meal. All are welcome to join.

Please send RSVP’s (and/or condolences) to Caroline.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the ACLU, BCC, Hospice by the Bay (in Northern California), or Coming Home Hospice, where he was so well taken care of during the last three months of his life.

Dr. James (Jim) A. Green died on March 1, 2017, in San Francisco at the age of 80, after a three-year long battle with vascular dementia. He went peacefully, with his daughter by his side.

Dr. Green was born in Philadelphia on October 12, 1936, to John Green, a pharmacist, and Rebecca (Statneko) Green, a schoolteacher. Jim grew up above his father’s pharmacy in Central Philadelphia. He married Patricia Lawrence-Toombs in 1969.

Dr. Green earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 1959 from Antioch College of Yellow Springs, OH, and a masters and PhD in Psychology from University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1967. In 2000, in the midst of a successful private practice, he earned a Psy.D in Psychoanalysis from the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis of Los Angeles.

Dr. Green’s career began at University of California, Riverside, where he taught and conducted research under the renowned social psychologist, Harold Gerard. Dr. Green followed Harold Gerard to University of California, Los Angeles. From there, Dr. Green worked in a variety of settings, from academia, to Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, to the VA and UCLA hospitals, to his private practice. He served on the Diversity Committee at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, was a member of temple Beth Chayim Chadashim, active in the American Psychological Association, was a member of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and volunteered with a number of organizations.

Dr. Green’s work has been published in a variety of professional and academic journals, including the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Readings in Social Psychology. His work was also published in Harold Gerard and Normal Miller’s book, “School Segregation: A Long-Term Study.”

But it was Jim’s coming out as a gay man in the early 80s, in an era when doing so not only required courage but also entailed a certain amount of risk, that shaped much of the focus of his practice, work, and personal life. He had a deep love of his work and his patients as well as a strong drive to help others. He volunteered with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, a group home for LGBT adolescents, and provided therapy to HIV/AIDs patients. He was involved in the New Jewish Agenda in the 80s and early 90s and attended the California Men’s Gathering a number of times.

As Jim’s health declined in September 2016, he moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco to be closer to his daughter Caroline Rooney, her husband Sean Rooney, and his two grandchildren, Declan and Quinn.

Jim is also survived by his ex-wife, Patricia Lawrence-Toombs Green and his brother Stephen and his brother’s two grown children, Robert and Andrea.

Jim’s love of music, the arts, and travel, along with his deep affection for his friends, were a key part of his life. He particularly loved movies, plays and the opera and incorporated those interests into his travel, attending the Paris opera, the Sante Fe, New Mexico opera festival and plays in New York as often as he could. His playful and at times feisty personality and his compassionate nature will be sorely missed by all who loved him.

A celebration of Jim’s life will take place at Temple Beth Chayim Chadashim (6090 Pico. Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035) on April 23rd at 5pm, and in San Francisco at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to ACLU, Beth Chayim Chadashim, Hospice by the Bay (in Northern California), or Coming Home Hospice, where he was so well taken care of during the last three months of his life.