John Greene remembered as ‘a real student of firefighting’

A memorial service for John A. Greene is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 21, at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew in Greenfield, and a burial will follow at Our Lady of Czestochowa Cemetery on Turners Falls Road in Montague.

By DOMENIC POLI, Staff Writer                                                                                                                                                                Published: 06-06-2025 3:24 PM
TURNERS FALLS — The man who bolstered the Montague Center Fire Department’s capabilities during a 35-year career and formed the Franklin County Firefighter Recruit Training Program died last month. He was 79.
A memorial service for John A. Greene is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 21, at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew in Greenfield, and a burial will follow at Our Lady of Czestochowa Cemetery on Turners Falls Road in Montague.

“I’m not sure what to expect. I think it’s going to be big,” his widow, Karen Greene, said, mentioning that her late husband positively affected many lives and made many friends over his career.
“His dad was fire chief in Gill, so he was involved in firefighting ever since he was a young kid,” she added.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew, Attn: Property Committee, 8 Church St., Greenfield, MA 01301 or to the Montague Center Fireman’s Relief Association, P.O. Box 237, Montague, MA 01351.

“He was chief for 29 years here. So that alone is incredible,” said outgoing Montague Center Fire Chief David Hansen, who replaced Greene when the latter retired in 2015.

Hansen explained the Franklin County Firefighter Recruit Training Program enabled firefighters to attend a state fire academy to get certified in local training. Hansen said Greene applied for the grant for the training trailers that are in Sunderland and for several departments to get air packs, which firefighters use to breathe when they’re inside burning structures.

“He was regionally influential in doing that kind of stuff,” Hansen said.

According to his obituary, Greene was a member of the Northwest Massachusetts Incident Management Team, the Tri State Fire Mutual Aid Team, the Western Massachusetts Fire Chiefs Association and the Franklin County Radio Control Club. He also studied and taught fire science at Greenfield Community College.
“He was a real student of firefighting,” Hansen said.

Orange Fire Chief James Young, who serves on the board of directors for the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts, said he regularly crossed paths with Greene, who he trained with from time to time.
“He was always great. He was very knowledgeable,” he said. “It was a pleasure training with him, a pleasure knowing him. It’s a big loss for the fire community as well as in general. He was a good person.”
Young said the training infrastructure Greene established has had a ripple effect throughout western Massachusetts.

“We still benefit … up to this very day,” he said.

According to his obituary, Greene was a U.S. Army warrant officer veteran, serving in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. He received the Army Aviator Badge, the 4th Armored Division Aviation Safety Award, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Cross of Gallantry and the National Defense Service Medal. In January 1966, he was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in connection with military operations against a hostile force.

He worked at Eaglebrook School and Baystate Franklin Medical Center before becoming a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems operator at Smith College for 29 years, from 1983 until his retirement in 2012.

Karen Greene, who said June 15 would have been their 46th wedding anniversary, recalled that her husband particularly enjoyed working on computers and educating his fellow firefighters.
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“He really liked teaching. He liked developing things,” she said. “He was very easy-going, very mild mannered. He didn’t get his feathers ruffled.”


Reach Domenic Poli at: [email protected] or 413-930-4120.