An MSU student and staff member died after suffering from a heart attack while helping his friend with home repairs Wednesday night.
Larry Green, 56, re-enrolled at MSU last fall in an attempt to finish the degree he began in 1963. A mathematics senior, he had just one more class to take before his expected graduation in December.
“It’s very sad he didn’t make it,” said Wellington Ow, director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Mathematics .
Ow, who met with Green last summer to talk about re-enrolling, said Green was a laid-back and good student. Green withdrew from MSU in the 1960s when his grade-point average dropped below 2.0 and was 13 credits short of graduating at that time, Ow said.
Despite those past academic troubles, Green was doing well since beginning classes again last fall and completed nine credits through the spring semester. Ow said all of Green’s math requirements were completed.
Ow said the department may award him the degree posthumously.
“He was pulling some pretty good grades,” Ow said. “He was just one class short.
Green worked various MSU jobs since the 1960s and became a full-time staff member after dropping out. He worked in Brody Hall for about 21 years, and his co-workers there said he was very dedicated.
Although Green lived alone in Lansing, he is survived by three sisters, a half-brother, 17 nieces and nephews and 12 great-nieces and great-nephews. Funeral services were held Saturday in Breckenridge.
Breckenridge resident Douglas Green, Larry’s friend from high school and college in the 1960s, said Larry was very studious and played football at Breckenridge High School.
“He was a gentle giant,” Douglas Green said. “Larry was easygoing, didn’t get mad no matter what you did. We were real good friends.”
Robbia Pipper, assistant food manager in Brody Hall, said Green was in charge of restocking the cafeteria supplies and recycling.
In 1996, Green won the Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award, a high honor for full-time university employees.
Pipper said since Green restarted his classes, he maintained a 3.5 GPA.
Terry Russell, another of Green’s co-workers, said she remembers talking with him about hockey.
“He was always working late,” Russell said. “The store room was clean, and he never had a word to say about anybody.”
Pipper said Green often helped people out with home improvements and had about 10 more jobs lined up.
“He would do anything for anybody,” Pipper said. “He has donated so much to the university. The biggest thing I’ll miss is his dedication.”
Ow is working to so Green’s ambition for a degree is met.
“I think it’s very unfortunate,” he said. “To try so hard, to get so close to a goal and just to barely miss it.”
Staff writer Amy Bartner contributed to this story.
