Derrell Lyndon Greene

1940 - 2025

U.S. Veteran ????

Derrell Lyndon Greene, 84, died August 7, 2025 in Clinton, MS of respiratory failure. Derrell was born in Fort Worth, Texas on November 13, 1940 and lived in Texas for most of his life before moving to Clinton, Mississippi in 2011.

Derrell was a member of the Carter-Riverside High School class of 1957. He served four years in the navy as a cryptographer, and afterwards worked on the Sante Fe Railroad as a morse-code transmitter. His love of travel and adventure led him to take a cryptography job with RCA which enabled him to travel to Japan, Philippines, Singapore and Ascension Island, ultimately landing him in the Seychelles Islands. There, as a member of the first group of Americans to land, he met his wife, Claudette. They married in 1963 and returned to the US where they raised three children, Sherri, Roger, and Kristine. From 1970 to 1981, Derrell worked as an air traffic controller. After going on strike and being fired in 1981, he opened PDQ print shop in Port Neches, Texas, where he was highly respected as a businessman. He retired in 2001 and, a year later, married his second wife, Beverly, and returned to Forth Worth where he enjoyed becoming reacquainted with his hometown. After Beverly's death in 2008, Derrell moved to Clinton, MS.

Derrell was loved by all who knew him for his good nature, sharp wit and sense of humor, as well as his determination, but he was especially loved for his gentle personality and kindness. He had a strong sense of right and wrong and lived his life trying to always do good for others. He had a life-long interest in World War II and was a self-educated scholar in that area of knowledge. He loved to reminisce about life in the forties and fifties and told many stories of growing up in Haltom City, Texas. Derrell was a sentimental soul who loved to read and also to write. He enjoyed writing poetry, often with special people in mind to whom he gifted his words. He was always happy listening to his favorite songs and thinking about his many memories. Derrell's greatest treasures were his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of which he had several. His favorite times were those spent with his family, laughing, telling stories, and remembering good times.

Derrell is survived by his children, Sherri Ottis (Steve) of Clinton, MS; Roger Greene (Brittnee) of Melissa, TX, and Kristine Laterra of Kountze, TX; his grandchildren, Brian, Catherine, Jack, Jameson, Avery, and Libby; and great-grandchildren, Betsy Cate, Charlie, Anna Jane, Mary Ella, Henry, Samuel, and Elizabeth. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Dolly (Messer) Greene; two brothers, Dwaine and Donnie; and stepmother, Ruth Greene.

Derrell's kindness, compassion, and gentle nature will be long remembered and his great love for his family and friends will be treasured by those he has left behind.

There will be a private memorial service.

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