Constance Stewart Green passed away April 27, 2024 after a long and fruitful life.
Connie was born August 1,1936 in Jacksonville, Florida to Arthur and Pearl Stewart. She grew up on the Southside and attended Landon High School. She met the love of her life, Causey Stanton Green (who precedes her in death) while attending Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University. Connie was a Green Wave cheerleader for Tulane.
Connie and Stanton married in 1955 moved to Miami where Stanton started medical school and Connie received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Miami. She and Stanton moved to Long Island, New York where Connie taught school and received her Master of Arts Degree in American Studies from Long Island University.
In 1966 Connie and Stanton moved back to Jacksonville where she led a very active life. After several years in the San Marco area Connie and Stanton moved to Montgomery Place in the Avondale area where they raised their three children. Connie could be seen running or biking from Avondale to the Florida Yacht Club where she played regularly on the FYC tennis A team. Connie and Stanton re-acquired the old Green Homestead in Welatka, Florida, “The Old Place” where they worked weekends putting 340 acres into pasture for cattle and horses. You could find Connie operating the tractor and bushhog regularly.
In Jacksonville, Connie was very active on numerous fronts. As President of the Board of Trustees of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, she was instrumental in hiring Roger Nierenberg and helping elevate the JSO to new levels of excellence. She later became President of the Museum of Science and History helping lead it into the modern era. In this role, she helped spearhead the first performance of the Nutcracker Ballet accompanied by the JSO, which is now in its 40th year. In 1987, she led the $5 million restoration project of Robert E Lee High School after it burnt down. She claimed this was the most rewarding volunteer effort of her life. Connie and Stanton embarked on numerous business ventures over the years including the Jacksonville Ford Tractor Company and the Jacksonville Sport Medicine Center.
In 1993 Connie and Stanton left Jacksonville and began a new and daring chapter in their lives. They acquired what became the Triple C Ranch in Cedaredge, Colorado. The ranch consisted of deeded land and Bureau of Land Management/National Forest land permits comprising over 5,000 acres of deeded grazing land. The ranch, at its height, accommodated 400 calves, 400 cows, Angus bulls and 5 horses. Connie and Stan transformed the ranch from a three season cow operation to a round-the-year, cow-calf operation. While in Colorado, Connie became President of the local Rotary chapter and they were active members of the Colorado Cattleman’s Association. Connie later wrote and published a book entitled “You’ve Got to be Kidding! From Mending Bones to Mending Fences,” written about her experience of being a cattle rancher.
Following Stanton’s death in Colorado, Connie operated the ranch for an additional two years before moving back to Jacksonville. She purchased property in Neptune Beach and built her last home on the water. She married Ed Austin in 2003 with whom she shared a love of literature, history and travel.
Upon returning to Florida, Connie reestablished her connection with Rotary, becoming a member and receiving the “Service Above Self “award in 2004. She hosted Phar’s Follies and established the annual Croquet and Cocktails Social at the Rotary Club of Ponte Vedra Beach. She became an active member at The Highlands Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina especially enjoying croquet. She helped spearhead the development of croquet at the Florida Yacht Club and was an active member of the Ponte Vedra Croquet Club. She endowed a scholarship to The College of Health at UNF and the C. Stanton Green, MD Anatomy Lab. She was an active member of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. She was active in the Ribault Garden Club and was a former docent at the Cummer Museum of Art.
She is survived by her sister, Lee Stewart Beger and her three children: Holly Stewart Green and her husband David M. Dunlap, C Stanton Green Jr. and his wife Dorothy Mitchell and C. Stewart Green and his wife Heather See-Lauer. She was “Cese” to eight grandchildren: Causey Dunlap Hebel, Marcus Dunlap, Gemma Green, Causey “Ty” Green, Colton Green, Callum Green, Kennedy Green and Constance Sadie Green.
The family will have a short “Remembrance of Life” at the Florida Yacht Club on May 11th with Remembrances beginning at 4 p.m. followed by cocktails.
