William GREENE

Spokane - William (Bill) Albert Greene, Ph.D. professor emeritus at Eastern Washington University passed away on January 1, 2023, peacefully at home. He was born September 13, 1934, in the Los Angeles County Hospital, California, to Albert and Doris (Martin) Greene. He is survived by his wife of 65 years Jean L. Hunt, his son Vincas (Robin) Greene, and granddaughters Sierra (Caleb) Bryceson and Tessa Greene. Bill spent several formative and wonderful years at the McCall's Boys Ranch in Alpine, CA, forming a lifetime bond with Carl and Blanch McCall. Following his time at the Boy's Ranch, he met his best friend Ernest Bradford "Bud" Ellsworth in San Diego. For the rest of his life, Bill considered Bud his blood brother. They went through elementary, middle school, and high school together. Bill worked for his father at their pet store and Zeke's Attic Antiques and Country Store in Ocean Beach. He spent his summers at the beach surfing, fishing, and climbing the cliffs of La Jolla and Ocean Beach. While attending Point Loma High School (class of 1952) he met Jean Hunt in Mr. McKinney's physical science class. Bill loved his science classes in high school. He then attended San Diego State College graduating with a B.A. in Psychology (1956) and an M.S. in Theoretical – Experimental Psychology (1962). Between his B.A. and M.S., he married his high school sweetheart, Jean, in 1957. He then served in the U.S. Army as a Morse Code Interceptor from 1957 – 1960 when he was honorably discharged after being stationed in Kassel, Germany. After graduating with his master's degree, he and Jean moved to Gainesville, Florida where he earned his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Florida in 1964. There Jean gave birth to their son Vincas. Following his desire to see the Great Northwest he moved his family to Cheney, Washington to serve as a professor of Psychology at Eastern Washington State College from 1964 - 1998. At EWU he pioneered research in Biofeedback (instrumental autonomic conditioning) putting the region at the forefront of the field, started a lab in psychophysiology which eventually led to the development of the exercise science degree, conducted research at the regional primate lab, and promoted fitness to the whole community. His papers were published in some of the most prestigious journals in his field. He was awarded the Trustees Medal at EWU in 1980 and continued his training and research at Stanford, Oxford, and the University of California Santa Barbara. At his retirement, Dr. Greene was made a Professor Emeritus. Additionally, he was a licensed Psychologist, a member of Psi Chi and Phi Kappa Phi, and a charter member of the American Psychological Society. Upon his retirement, Bill volunteered at Moran Prairie Elementary School and the Barton School. During his life he remained active in bike riding, masters' swimming, aerobics, running, walking, and weight training. He developed a passion for learning Spanish, traveling, and playing the piano. Bill loved his family and was often moved to tears of pride when speaking about them. Memorial donations may be made to Vytal Movement Dance (vytalmovement.org), SpokAnimal (spokanimal.org), or the Centennial Trail (spokanecentennialtrail.org).