Kyle Greene (1927–1984) was a prominent mid-twentieth-century funeral director whose career became closely intertwined with the history of funeral service in Dayton and Rhea County, Tennessee.
He came to Rhea County in 1950 and soon purchased the long-established Coulter Funeral Home, originally founded in 1897 by R. J. Coulter, thereby assuming stewardship of one of Dayton’s oldest business institutions.
For many years Greene operated the First Avenue funeral home, at one time in partnership arrangements that led to the firm being known as Coulter-Garrison-Green Funeral Home, reflecting a period of merger and transition within the profession.
Eventually his interest in the business was acquired by Felix Garrison, and the establishment continued as Coulter-Garrison Funeral Home, a name that remains associated with funeral service in the area.
A 1959 yearbook advertisement confirms Greene’s ownership during that era and notes the provision of ambulance service, a common responsibility of funeral homes before the development of modern emergency medical systems.
Beyond his professional life, Greene was deeply involved in civic, religious, and fraternal affairs. He served as a past president of both the Dayton Chamber of Commerce and the Dayton Lions Club, was an active member of First Baptist Church of Dayton, and was affiliated with several Masonic bodies, including Dayton Lodge No. 512 F&AM, the Rhea County Shrine Club, the Alhambra Shrine Temple, and the York Rite.
At the time of his death on August 27, 1984, at his Dayton residence at the age of fifty-seven, he was employed with Vaughn Funeral Home in Spring City, continuing his work in funeral service.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Florence Vaughn Green (1926–1978). He is survived by a daughter, Karen G. Sharpe of Maryville, Tennessee; brothers Oscar Greene of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Joe Green of Knoxville, and Tyler Greene of Washburn, Tennessee; sisters Leona Haynes of Maryville, Hannah Bolden of Thornhill, Tennessee, and Lizzie Dyar of Knoxville; and several nieces and nephews.
Graveside services were held at Rhea County Memory Gardens, where he and his wife are interred in the Garden of Acacia section, marking the resting place of a man whose professional life and civic leadership left a lasting imprint on the community he served.
