Sidney Greenway

Sidney Alfred Greenway was born June 15, 1928 in Greensboro, North Carolina to Beatrice and Willie Frank Greenway, joining older sister Sybil. Willie Frank was a bus driver for Greyhound at the time. Beatrice wanted him to move to the garage to be a mechanic instead of a driver, so in 1929, the family moved to Richmond, Virginia, and Willie Frank became a mechanic for Greyhound. Juanita was born in 1930, and the family moved to Washington, DC in the spring of 1932 when Greyhound moved their operation there. Regina was born in 1938. Willie Frank had a dream of having a family band, and Sid learned to play the guitar, the saxophone, and the banjo. Sid loved music his whole life, with a special fondness for big band and swing, classic music, and 'popular' music from his early years. Sid received all of his schooling in Washington, DC, and he graduated from McKinley Tech High School in 1948 (he had taken off a few years from high school before graduating in order to earn money for his family). Some of Sid's early jobs included pin boy at the bowling alley, paperboy, and cook and waiter at Little Tavern Restaurant. He loved to roller skate and roller dance, and it was at Riverside Stadium roller rink that he caught the eye of his lifelong sweetheart Marjorie. Sid and Marjorie dated for 6 years and married October 21, 1950. Sid joined the Navy in 1951 and served until 1955. During that time, they moved around a bit, including a time in Charleston, SC. When Sid left the Navy, they moved to Washington, DC, and Sid started working for AT&T. Most of his time with AT&T was spent at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Sid worked on many NASA missions as part of the NASCOM team: 3 Skylabs: Skylab 4 SL-4 (Carr/Gibson/Pogue), Skylab 2 SL-2 (Conrad/Kerwin/Weitz), Skylab 3 SL-3 (Bean/Garriott/Lousma); 6 Apollos: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project - July 15, 1975, Apollo 11 - first moon landing, July 20, 1969, Apollo 15 - moon landing mission (Scott/Worden/Irwin), Apollo 16 - moon landing mission (Young/Mattingly/Duke), Apollo 17 - last moon landing mission (Cernan/Evans/Schmitt); 7 space shuttles (first one April 12-14, 1981): Columbia STS-1 (Young and Crippen); Columbia STS-2 (Engle and Truly), Columbia STS-3 (Lousma and Fullerton), Challenger STS-6 (Peterson, Weitz, Bobko, and Musgrave) Columbia STS-4 (Mattingly and Hartsfield) Challenger STS-7 (Crippen, Fabian, Hauck, Ride, and Thagard) Columbia STS-5 (Allen, Brand, Overmyer, and Lenoir). Sid and Marjorie lived on Webster Street in Washington, DC when Joyce Elizabeth was born in 1957. They moved to a house on Cooper Lane in Hyattsville, MD in 1958, and Cynthia Joan was born that summer. When Sid's sister Sybil was going through a rough patch, Sid and Marjorie took in her youngest 2 children, Robert and Peggy for about 6 months while they lived on Cooper Lane. Bowling was a favorite free time activity for Sid. He was in many leagues and was a top bowler. The house was filled with his many trophies. Dancing was a favorite activity for Sid and Marjorie and they attended many functions and were members of dancing clubs, participating in exhibition dancing. William Sidney was born in 1962, and to accommodate the growing family, the Greenway's had a house built on Farmcrest Drive in New Carrollton, MD. Sid worked his regular job at AT&T along with second and third jobs, which included truck driving and deliveries, working so hard to save and have the new house paid off years early. Sid always had a playful, mischievous, youthful twinkle in his eyes. Sid loved to watch cartoons, play video games (Tetris, QBert, Dig Dug, and Space Invaders were his favorites), he was a fan of Star Trek. In later years, he enjoyed watching The Weather Channel. Sid loved doing jigsaw puzzles, a pastime shared with his children and grandchildren. In later years, his favorite puzzles were of paintings by Charles Wysocki - he said he was communing with Charlie. The family had a dog named Prince in the late 70's and early 80's (a snub nosed Boston Terrier), which Sid nicknamed Snerfflebeast (referring to the snorting noises he made when he was excited)- Snerffy for short. To the end of his days, mentioning Snerfflebeast would bring a smile to his face, and a twinkle to his eyes. Sid spent many hours on his CB radio in the basement conversing with various friends - his call letters were KCW2562, and his handle was The World's Biggest Grouch (sometimes shortened to either World's Biggest, Grouch, or Grouchie). Summer vacations were taken driving with his CB radio. On return trips home, Sid's kids would ask where they were staying for the night, and Sid would say "at the Farmcrest Drive Motel". A fitting name - open to all friends and family. When Marjorie's brother Dick moved their family to West Virginia, Sid and Marjorie took in 2 of their children at different times so they could stay in the DC Maryland area - at the good old Farmcrest Drive Motel. Daughter Joyce was married in 1973, and is now widowed and living in Oregon. Daughter Cynthia was married in 1978, and moved back to the Farmcrest Drive Motel with her 2 children after divorcing. Sid and Marjorie were more than happy to have them all living together. These grandchildren, Billy and Mindy, called Sid Grimmmmpa - gigglingly morphing Grandpa to Grimpa - Sid loved pretending to be grouchy and ornery. Son William married in 1987, and is currently living in Idaho with his wife and 9 children. Sid and Marjorie raised 3 children of their own, and helped raise their 2 oldest grandchildren. All who came under their influence were lucky to have had their guiding hands take part in their upbringing. Sid and Marjorie were both great role models. Sid liked to sign his "name" to birthday or other greeting cards as M.O.M. - and if you asked him what that stood for, he'd tell you "Mean Old Man", which, of course, was the farthest thing from the truth! Sid's last few years before retiring from AT&T were spent working in Oakton, VA. He retired in 1989. Saturday mornings were spent at the Seabrook barber shop getting an old fashioned straight razor shave from his barber, Carlo, who called him Pop. Sid was known as Mr. Sid by the kids at church, friends at the New Carrollton Pool called him Mr. G., and caretaker Brandon Simmons called him Mr. Greenway - he liked, and deserved, being addressed in a respectful, dignified way. Sid's beloved wife Marjorie passed away in 1999 from Lou Gehrigs disease. Sid's health had already started to fail and her loss hastened his decline. His fondest wish was to be reunited with her. While we are all saddened by his loss, we are glad for him that they are together again never to be separated for all eternity.