Obituary Evelyn Winifred Green MBE

By Mike Pinchen On Thursday 12 March, I attended All Saints’ Church, New Eltham for the funeral of branch member Evelyn Green. Also attending were Harry & Jo Briggs and Sue Sauter. We were there to pay our respects to someone who epitomised what is to be Christian, for Evelyn was one of the most decent, caring, joyous, optimistic and unselfish people you could ever wish to meet. She will be sorely missed, and our world is a lesser place with her Passing.

Evelyn (Hasel) was born on 1 March 1928 in Rio Janeiro, Brazil. When the company with which her father worked was taken over by Cable & Wireless, he was made redundant and the family returned to the UK, setting up home in the New Eltham (SE9) area, where she was to spend most of her long and industrious life.

In 1932 she attended the local St Olives school, followed by Babington House for Girls as a boarder. During the Blitz, she slept in the basement dormitory, which shook when the occasional bomb exploded nearby.

In 1946 she attended a pre-nursing course at Battersea Polytechnic, followed by four years training at King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill. After this she worked at St James’ Hospital, Balham.

In 1951 Evelyn married Eric Green, a local lad, who she had known since the day Eric had joined the Royal Marines at 17½, (the reason given by Eric being that he didn’t want to go down the Pit as one of the Bevin Boys). Evelyn’s first son Mark was born in 1955, and in 1956 they moved into their ‘home for life’ in Green Lane, New Eltham, where her second son Michael was born in 1958. During this time, Evelyn became increasingly involved in various charities and local community groups, and her local church All Saints.

The list of her good works is lengthy, but one was driving Sunshine Coaches for the children’s charity ‘Variety’. This valuable work sometimes entailed long hours but it opened up a world of opportunity for thousands of children, giving them access to life-changing experiences by supporting their physical and social development. It was not uncommon to see Evelyn driving around her locale in the distinctive sky-blue coach of the charity. In the New Year’s Honours 2009 in recognition for ‘tireless voluntary service to her community,’ Evelyn was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), the award of which was bestowed by HRH The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. A proud and memorable occasion for the Green family.

Evelyn will be remembered by many branch members for her attendance at our monthly meetings, where she would ‘do the rounds’ (with others), selling and dishing out tickets for our monthly raffles

An occasion I recall was when she collected Eric on return from one of our annual pilgrimages to Zeebrugge. The coach would drop some of us off at the Black Prince on the A2, where we could be picked up and taken home. On this occasion, as well as Eric, she collected our two late FEPOW members, Tom King and Bill Walsh. The car she was driving was an estate and she put all the cases in the back. However, she did not secure the tail gate properly and as the car pulled away, it glided up and out rolled one of the cases. Oblivious to this, she drove on but as she slowed for the traffic lights, the momentum closed the tail gate. Fortunately, Sheila had picked me up and we were following, although she had to do an emergency stop to prevent collision with the said case. I got out, checked the name on the label, placed it in our car and gave Sheila the address. When we pulled up behind Evelyn’s car outside Tom King’s house, they were standing in a huddle scratching their heads wondering where the missing case had gone. I got out and explained what had happened, and we all had a good chuckle.

Sadly, Evelyn passed away on 14 January 2026. She was many things to many people; indeed she leaves an indelible mark. So how to sum up a woman who, like many others are the glue of our communities and nation. In St Martin’s Place, close to Trafalgar Square, stands a memorial, on which are inscribed the words HUMILITY. DEVOTION. FORTITUDE. SACRIFICE. This memorial is dedicated to one of England’s heroines, Nurse Edith Cavell, but those words could also be describing the qualities of Evelyn Green MBE.

Footnote: Many years ago, I was standing on the platform of New Eltham station and noticed someone standing nearby glancing at me. He eventually asked whether my tie was Royal Marines. I replied in the affirmative to which he said that he too had served in the Corps. This person turned out to be Eric Green, and with that I recruited him there and then. When Eric came to his first branch meeting, and the Chairman (Jim Ellard) bought him his first pint, Eric revealed that he was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA). At that time the incumbent Treasurer was the late Ray Whitehouse, who was looking for a replacement. Eric was therefore his man, and in very short time Eric became Branch Treasurer. Sadly, Eric crossed the bar in 2009, the same year that Evelyn had received her MBE.