Tommie Greene

“Seventy years are given us! And some may even live to eighty years…Teach us o number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should!” (Psalm 90:10a, 12, NLT).

Tommie Julia “Tweet” Greene, blessed to live two decades past the seventy years our Father grants His children, learned to number her days and, indeed, spent them as God intended. Tommie Julia marked her years with a giving, serving, and loving spirit.  She knew a mere fraction of the hundreds she fed on the Points and at 34th and Downing Streets.  Yet throughout the years, Tommie Julia Greene served her neighbors and strangers alike with excellence, while working as a Phlebotomist at Eastside Denver Health Center.

Born in Crescent, Oklahoma, on September 24, 1930, the daughter of Tom Gainer and Clara Gainer, Tommie Julia grew up during the Great Depression among loving brothers, Bernie, M.C. and Herman; and sisters Emma Mae, Catherine, and Ruth.   She loved to cook, sew, and decorate.  Her mother sent her to Denver, Colorado, where she graduated from Manual High School.  There she met Robert Grant, who declared her “the love of my life,” and married her in 1949.  The happy couple later became parents to four children:  Deborah, Cheryl, Gregory, and Andre.

Tommie Julia put her gifts of sewing and decorating to good use when she was hired as a seamstress at Neusteters Department Store after graduating.  She dressed her daughters in beautiful clothing, both for everyday wear and especially for holidays and recitals.  Soon Tommie ‘s friends engaged her to sew for them, she added  “interior decorator” to her resume.

Tommie Julia and her close friends worked hard and enjoyed life to the fullest.   In its heyday, the “Five Points” was the area to see and be seen, where the famed Rossonian Hotel engaged stars like Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington.  Tommie and her friends became known for “making an entrance” at clubs on “The Points.”  Dressed to the ‘nines’ and sharp as a tack, they turned heads wherever they went.

Tommie Julia loved being a grandmother!  Her grandchildren called her  “Grandma Tweet,” while one referred to her as “My Punky Brewster Grandma.”   Tweet loved taking them crawdad fishing.  Just as much, she enjoyed their ski trips to the Black Ski Summits, as well as her vacations in the Colorado high country, Mexico, Canada, Tijuana, and resort areas throughout the United States.

Tommie Julia, also known as “Tweet,” made time to serve as a “Soldier in the army of the Lord,” volunteering to feed and shelter many.  Tommie Julia was a Born Again Christian and attended New Hope Baptist Church; Peace, Joy, and Righteousness Church, pastored by her son, Andre; and Faith Walk, where her daughter, Cheryl, pastors.

Tweet loved all music; one of her all-time favorite songs was “Tall Skinny Papa.”  She balanced “juke joint” songs with standard religious songs like “He’s got the whole world in His hands;” “Jesus loves me, this I know; and “How great Thou art.”  In later years, Tommie loved to reminisce with friends, including Catherine (Kitty) Bookman, Lela and Joanne Crawford, Lois Flowers, Christine Harris and Bernice Foster.  She enjoyed music that brought happiness and beautiful memories.

Family members treasure their beloved “Tweet” and will continue to hold her close in their hearts, in honor and gratitude.  Her family cherishes the truth that “Love is Spirit and Spirit never dies,” and include: Deborah (Larry) Holliday; Cheryl (Gregory) Curtis; Gregory (Annette) Grant; Andre Grant, and Robert Grant.  Also mourning their loss are grandchildren, LaRae (Lance) Williams; Jennifer (Landrey) Terry; Genelle Grant; Demetria Grant; Donald and DeSheria Holliday; Keyonna Grant; and great granddaughter, Ashley Hudgens, whom she helped to raise; and the late Darnell Hudgens, who awaits her in Heaven.  Also, many great grandchildren, other friends, and relatives join the family in celebrating her life and grieving her transition.