Bill Greene could paint, whittle, scuba dive and mold ceramics.
He could also blow, twist, coil and weave balloons into flowers and animals. That’s when his massive, almost head-sized hands were at their best, according to friends.
Greene, who died of liver cancer at 68 on June 20, was known as “Tug Boat” around the halls of the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Portland, where in full clown garb he twisted balloons into flowers and coaxed laughs out of seriously ill patients.
“He loved the kids when he was clowning and doing his Shriners work,” said Greene’s live-in girlfriend, Maxine Sullivan. “He loved blowing balloons for the kids.”
Greene struggled with a chronic lung disease. He died of liver cancer, but not before living a full life, his friends said. Throughout his battle with the illness that overtook him, his smile endured.
Greene was said to love football.
He was a member of the board that launched the Shriners Freedom Bowl Classic. The eighth annual edition of the all-star high school football game will be played tonight at Kiggins Bowl.
read more Final Salute: Shriners clown kept ill children smiling | The Columbian
He could also blow, twist, coil and weave balloons into flowers and animals. That’s when his massive, almost head-sized hands were at their best, according to friends.
Greene, who died of liver cancer at 68 on June 20, was known as “Tug Boat” around the halls of the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Portland, where in full clown garb he twisted balloons into flowers and coaxed laughs out of seriously ill patients.
“He loved the kids when he was clowning and doing his Shriners work,” said Greene’s live-in girlfriend, Maxine Sullivan. “He loved blowing balloons for the kids.”
Greene struggled with a chronic lung disease. He died of liver cancer, but not before living a full life, his friends said. Throughout his battle with the illness that overtook him, his smile endured.
Greene was said to love football.
He was a member of the board that launched the Shriners Freedom Bowl Classic. The eighth annual edition of the all-star high school football game will be played tonight at Kiggins Bowl.
read more Final Salute: Shriners clown kept ill children smiling | The Columbian
