Elizabeth "Bebe" Clark Greenlee

Elizabeth (“Bebe”) Clark Greenlee reposed in Our Lord on August 1, 2023, at 3:43pm and in the company of her husband, both her children and friends. Bebe was born on February 18, 1929 to Dr. George Hadley and Elizabeth (“Betty”) Phillips Clark in Oskaloosa, Iowa. She grew up in Oskaloosa with her older sister Mary Ann and her younger brother Sam. At age seven she contracted the polio virus which damaged her right leg so that she required using crutches and a leg brace for the balance of her life. Her freshman year of high school was spent in Norman, Oklahoma on the University of Oklahoma campus where her father was then stationed, with the Navy, during WWII. She graduated from Oskaloosa High School in 1947 and went onto the University of Arizona where she received a degree in Education. Following college, Bebe was hired by Sister Irene to teach elementary school at the St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Denver. After a year of teaching, she married Max R. Greenlee Jr. on June 30, 1953. It was the culmination of a romantic interest that started in Oskaloosa, when Max’s parents were newcomers to town in 1940. Betty Clark encouraged the Greenlee family to attend St. James Episcopal Church, where Bebe and Max first spotted each other at age 11. Bebe had many hobbies and interests and was always looking for a new adventure or new interest. She and Max enjoyed finding remote camping places in and around Colorado. She was an expert at identifying wildflowers. She served various leadership positions with the KAθ sorority, PEO sisterhood and St. Mark’s Altar Guild. They both learned to sail and scuba dive. She was an avid swimmer for most of her life. She enjoyed the challenge of learning to pilot a small airplane and obtained a Private Pilot license. Ham Radio became a big interest and she taught many young people Morse Code so they could obtain a General Radio License from the FCC. She was active in an early music group where she played Recorder. In later years, she became a very skilled restorer of vintage wooden jigsaw puzzles. She is remembered for her exuberant love of life. She loved and exploited every ounce of the life God gave her and was most grateful for every old friend and every new friend she made. She loved her devoted husband, she loved her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, she loved Jesus, she loved the Orthodox Christian Church, and she loved her St. Mark’s Parish of Denver home. Bebe is survived by her husband, Max R. Greenlee Jr.; children Edith (Randy) Stout and Stephen (Nancy) Greenlee; four grandchildren, Jeffrey (Bekah) Stout, Abbie Stout, Andrew (Nancy), Greenlee and Sarah (Adam) Hardie; and five great-grandchildren, Ezekiel Stout, Lorenzo Stout, Phoebe Stout, Helen Greenlee, Annabelle Greenlee and Jack Hardie. Bebe was predeceased by her parents George and Betty Clark; parents in-law Max Sr. and Helen Greenlee; siblings Mary Ann (“Mimi”) Barnhouse and Sam Clark; and brother in-law Lorance Greenlee. A Requiem Mass will be offered for Bebe, and all those gone before, at St. Mark’s Orthodox Church, 1405 S. Vine Street, Denver, Colorado on Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 9AM. Her burial will follow at the St. Laurence Cemetery, on the campus of the Our Lady and St. Laurence Benedictine Monastery, Canon City, Colorado.