Helaine R. Green

Helaine Ruth Green, 1934-2017

Helaine Ruth Green, of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, will be remembered for her outstanding and compassionate 35-year career as a school social worker in Chatham Township, New Jersey. She also had a private practice as a psychotherapist, a career which she continued after her retirement. Earlier, Helaine had worked as a social worker in rural Virginia, Boston, and North Caldwell, New Jersey. She held a Master’s in School Social Work from Kean University, and a Master’s in Social Work from New York University. 

She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Jerrold A. Green, by her sister Mella Clive of Great Neck, New York, and by daughters Laurie Green (James Fabris) in Austin, Texas, Andrea Green of Fanwood, New Jersey, and Claudia Green (Michael Massey) of Milton, Massachusetts, and by grandchildren Renata, Marisol, Liana, Benjamin, Tansy, and Sarafina. 

Helaine had suffered much physical pain in her last several years, but she is remembered by all who knew her—nieces, nephews, other relatives, friends, colleagues, and clients, for her wonderful rapport and boundless interest in their lives, and even in the lives of their friends and family. Her empathy for others, her intelligence, and her sense of humor made deep impressions on all who knew her. 

Helaine and Jerry’s extraordinary relationship began when she was an undergraduate student at Syracuse University and he at Cornell. Married in 1955, the two lived briefly in Boston and Plainfield, New Jersey before settling in Berkeley Heights in 1960. She was the light of his life. The two shared not only in parenting but in traveling together, skiing together, sailing together, laughing together. They adventured close to home in Martha’s Vineyard, Lake George, and the Berkshires—where they eventually bought a home—and farther from home in Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean. She fulfilled a dream of visiting Greece upon earning her MSW, also a long term dream. Together, Helaine and Jerry with members of their family marched for peace, participated in civil rights, and supported other causes. 

Funeral services are being held at 11 a.m., Monday, June 5, at Congregation Beth Hatikvah, in Summit, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, people who wish may make a donation to English for New Bostonians or Planned Parenthood.

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