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Person

Russell J. “Russ” Green

Also Russell Green · Russ Green · Russell J. Green · Puss Green

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
Born1928
Died2010
ErasModern era
On this page
Person
Born
1928
Died
2010
Work
Crew, fitting out and running the M. S. Beaver Islander · First mate, Beaver Islander · Ship captain, Beaver Island Boat Company
Children
Michael Green · Mary Green
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
maritimeshippingcommunity

Summary

Russell J. “Russ” Green (1928–2010) worked the Beaver Islander ferry from at least 1965, was named as its first mate during the December 1968 final winter crossing of the season, and by the 1970s was captaining Beaver Island Boat Company vessels, including an emergency charter of the Emerald Isle and Coast Guard-assisted ice-breaking runs.

History

Family on the island by 1957

The earliest held mention of the family predates Green’s own maritime record by eight years: a January 1957 Beacon item reports “Mrs. Russell Green … recovering at her home in G.R. after major throat surgery,” placing the Greens on Beaver Island’s community pages while Green himself does not yet appear by name.1

Beaver Islander crew, 1965–1969

The Beacon’s April 1965 season-opening report names Russell Green with Captain Lawrence McDonough and John A. Gallagher fitting out the M. S. Beaver Islander for the season, including installing a new heating plant.2 Nearly four years later, the Charlevoix Courier’s account of the ferry’s grueling final 1968 crossing — made in a Friday storm on December 27 — names “Russ Green, first mate,” alongside skipper McDonough and engineer Johnny Gallagher, and describes him helping search for Charlevoix’s harbor buoys and foghorn as the boat’s radar, radio direction finder and depth sounder had all failed.3 That season had set a new trip record — 286 the year before, exceeded in 1968.3 The following spring, an April 1969 Courier item again names Green among the crew — with McDonough and Pete Underwood — starting the boat’s spring outfitting in Charlevoix before returning to the island for Easter weekend.4

Captain, 1973–1975

By July 1973 Green held the title “Capt.”: when a clutch failure laid up the Beaver Islander for a week, he flew to Mackinac Island to bring the chartered Emerald Isle back into service on the run.5 In March 1975, after the Coast Guard icebreaker Sundew opened St. James Harbor, “Capt. Russ Green flew to the mainland” to ready the South Shore for a tentative early freight run, though pack ice outside the harbor delayed it.6 That same week’s Beacon also names “Russ Green and Bill Wagner” — printed elsewhere in the issue as “Puss Green” — calling the square dances at a revived Wednesday and Friday session and at the St. Patrick’s dance at Holy Cross Hall.7

Family

The Beacon’s May–June 1975 commencement report names Michael Green, one of six Beaver Island Community School graduates that year, as the son of “Mr. and Mrs. Russell Green.”8 A second graduation notice, in May 1976, names Mary Green, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Green, among that year’s six graduates — the source for a second documented child.9

Later years and death

Green remained active on the ice in his eighties: a February 2010 “Beaver Tales” item reports him among five snowmobilers — with Archie LaFreniere, Bill Wagner, Sheldon Parker, and Phil Gregg — crossing from Indian Point to Whiskey Island, Squaw Island, and Garden Island on February 16, 2010, months before his death.10 He died sometime that spring; the Holy Cross Cemetery index gives 1928–2010. On May 14, 2010, the Beacon reported, the Island community turned out to receive his body, returned on the ferry “he had ridden so many times before — many times as the Captain.” A flotilla of named boats — the American Girl, Shamrock, Cisco, Resolute, Wendy Anne, Jon Bonadeo’s Liberty, and Skip Duhamel’s fishing tug — met the ferry beyond the harbor mouth and escorted it in. The account recalls Green’s sons and nephews wintering cattle in town and walking them out the King’s Highway each spring to a family field at Greenetown, and remembers him “walking through the cabin to shake hands with his many friends” as ferry captain. The casket was carried to Holy Cross Catholic Church.11

Evidence and limits

Green’s maritime record here rests on Beaver Beacon and Charlevoix Courier items rather than Boat Company employment or licensing records; no source held here documents when he became captain, how long he held it, or a complete crew or command history between 1975 and his final years. The cemetery index corroborates his 1928–2010 lifespan but supplies no other biographical detail, and no source read gives an exact death date beyond “that spring,” bounded by the February 2010 snowmobile trip and the May 14 homecoming.

Significance

The May 2010 account of the community meeting his returned body — a flotilla of named boats escorting the ferry he had captained “so many times before” — is, in its own words, evidence of how Beaver Island regarded a longtime ferry captain and island family. This article reports that account; it does not independently verify the sentiment beyond what the Beacon itself describes.

Open questions

  • What Boat Company employment or licensing records would establish Green’s full career, including exactly when he was promoted from mate to captain, and what he did between the mid-1970s and 2010?
  • Who was Michael and Mary Green’s mother (Mrs. Russell Green, recovering from surgery in 1957), and is she the same “Mrs. Russell Green” named in the 1975 and 1976 commencement notices?
  • What was Green’s exact date of death in spring 2010?

See also

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Beacon, January 1957, island news. ↩

  2. Beaver Beacon, April 1965, “Beaver Islander Readies for 1965.” ↩

  3. Charlevoix Courier, January 1, 1969, “Friday’s storm fails to halt final run for boat” and “Beaver Islander’s last trip.” ↩ ↩2

  4. Charlevoix Courier, April 9, 1969, crew notice. ↩

  5. Beaver Beacon, July 1973, “Emerald Isle Returns.” ↩

  6. Beaver Beacon, March 1975, “Ice Breaking.” ↩

  7. Beaver Beacon, March 1975, “Square Dancing.” ↩

  8. Beaver Beacon, May–June 1975, “Commencement.” ↩

  9. Beaver Beacon, May 1976, “Commencement.” ↩

  10. Beaver Beacon, February 2010, “Beaver Tales.” ↩

  11. Beaver Beacon, June 2010, “Russ Comes Home.” ↩

Kin

This articleRussell J.“Russ” Green1928 – 2010Mary GreenMichael Green
Only relations stated in the sources are drawn; absence means unrecorded, not childless or unmarried.

The dated record

4 dated events · 1928–2010These years on the timeline →

Sources

  1. Charlevoix Courier, January 1, 1969, “Friday’s storm fails to halt final run for boat” and “Beaver Islander’s last trip.”
    Names Russ Green as first mate and describes him helping search for harbor buoys and Charlevoix’s foghorn during the return crossing. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    charlevoix · charlevoixcourie1969unse
  2. Held raw issue OCR preserves the first-mate name and role independently.
    charlevoix · issues · charlevoixcourie1969unse · charlevoixcourie1969unse_djvu
  3. Names Russell Green as part of the Beaver Islander fitting-out crew; the matching full name and vessel context support the expanded form of the 1969 “Russ Green” attestation.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1965-04_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1965-04_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Names Captain Russ Green as the person who brought the chartered Emerald Isle back from Mackinac Island during the Beaver Islander clutch repair; the source does not supply a complete captaincy record.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1973-07_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held eleven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1973-07_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Lists Russell J. Green (1928–2010). The full Russell form in the 1965 Beaver Islander crew notice, recurring nickname, and ferry roles provide the identity bridge.
  8. Names Captain Russ Green as flying to the mainland to prepare a tentative South Shore freight run after Sundew opened St. James Harbor. It does not establish a complete captaincy or flight record. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-03_Beaver-Beacon
  9. The held issue confirms the captain name and reported preparation.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-03_Beaver-Beacon
  10. Charlevoix Courier, April 9, 1969, crew notice.
    Reports that crew members Lawrence McDonough, Russell Green, and Pete Underwood of the ferry Beaver Islander went to Charlevoix to start spring work on the boat and returned to the island for the Easter weekend — dated by the issue masthead at line 38586 of the held bound-volume OCR ("Vol. 74 No. 21," "Wed., April 9, 1969"), with no intervening issue header before this item. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    charlevoix · charlevoixcourie1969unse
  11. Names Michael Green, son of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Green, among the six Beaver Island Community School seniors graduating May 23, 1975 — the source for the parent-child relation recorded here. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
  12. The held combined issue confirms the graduation roster and parent notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
  13. Names "Puss Green" as square-dance caller alongside Bill Wagner in a report on revived Wednesday and Friday square-dance sessions — the same pairing the "Ice Breaking" item in the same issue prints as "Russ Green and Bill Wagner," treated here as the same person under a nickname variant. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-03_Beaver-Beacon
  14. Reports "Mrs. Russell Green is recovering at her home in G.R. after major throat surgery" — the earliest held mention of the Green family, predating the 1965 Beaver Islander crew notice by eight years, though it names his wife, not Russell Green himself. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-01_Beaver-Beacon
  15. Names Mary Green, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Green, among six Beaver Island Community School graduates in 1976 — the source for a second documented child, alongside 1975 graduate Michael Green. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1976-05_Beaver-Beacon
  16. Beaver Beacon, February 2010, "Beaver Tales."
    Reports Russ Green among five snowmobilers - with Archie LaFreniere, Bill Wagner, Sheldon Parker, and Phil Gregg - crossing the ice from Indian Point to Whiskey Island, Squaw Island (the source's own term; see the domain trap on that place name), and Garden Island on February 16, 2010, months before his death. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2010-02_Beaver-Beacon
  17. Beaver Beacon, June 2010, "Russ Comes Home."
    Describes the community turning out on May 14, 2010 to receive Russell Green's body, returned on the ferry he had ridden "many times ... as the Captain"; a flotilla of named boats (the American Girl, Shamrock, Cisco, Resolute, Wendy Anne, Jon Bonadeo's Liberty, and Skip Duhamel's fishing tug) escorted the ferry into harbor, and the account recalls his sons and nephews wintering cattle in town and walking them out the King's Highway each spring to a family field at Greenetown, and Green's habit of walking through the ferry cabin to shake hands with passengers. The casket was carried to Holy Cross Catholic Church. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2010-06_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Russell J. “Russ” Green”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/russell-j-russ-green/, accessed [date], citing Charlevoix Courier, January 1, 1969, “Friday’s storm fails to halt final run for boat” and “Beaver Islander’s last trip.” (and 16 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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