G. Davis Greene Jr., 81, former state treasurer

G. Davis Greene Jr., 81, of West Mount Airy, a former Pennsylvania state treasurer and a financial adviser to Gov. Bob Casey, died Sunday, Sept. 2, of prostate cancer at Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor.

On Jan. 23, 1987, calling him "a man of unquestioned integrity," Casey appointed Mr. Greene to complete R. Budd Dwyer's term as state treasurer.

The day before, Dwyer had committed suicide during a televised news conference. He had been convicted of accepting kickbacks and was about to be sentenced to jail.

When Casey was auditor general in the 1970s, Mr. Greene was his adviser on audits of the Treasurer's Office and played a role in improving methods of administering state investments and debts.

Casey and Mr. Greene had met in the 1960s in Harrisburg, where Mr. Greene's financial counseling firm had clients.

"Dave had high principles," said his wife, Ann Norcott Greene. As treasurer, he would not permit investments in South Africa because of apartheid, she said.

When his term expired in 1989, Mr. Greene became a financial adviser to Casey and served as the governor's appointee on the boards of the Delaware River Port Authority, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the Fairmount Park Commission, and the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System.

In an Inquirer editorial in 1991, Mr. Greene was described as "always a bit out of step in the state capital because he tries to solve problems directly - most notably the problem of reviving Philadelphia ports - without the proper regard for political protocol and patronage."

In 1993, The Inquirer reported that Mr. Greene was the object of a furious outburst at a DRPA meeting by then-State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, after Mr. Greene tabled Fumo's proposal for an expensive heliport and other amenities at Penn's Landing. Fumo dubbed Mr. Greene "Casey's Boy Scout."

Mr. Greene grew up in Roxborough and graduated from William Penn Charter School. In 1953, he earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he met his future wife.

For two years, he served in the Navy in Japan. He then earned an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of Penn while working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Mr. Greene was with the investment firm of Lionel D. Edie & Co., and was a partner in Dearden & Greene before establishing Greene Associates in Philadelphia, which is now the O'Brien Greene & Co. investment counseling firm. His clients included individuals, banks, pension funds, and not-for-profit organizations.

After retiring in 1995, he maintained a keen interest in investment and money management, his wife said.

Mr. Greene served on several boards at Summit Presbyterian Church in Mount Airy and was active with the Philadelphia Presbytery.

In his younger years, he enjoyed jogging in Fairmount Park. He and his wife were world travelers and had visited every continent but Africa and Antarctica, she said.

In addition to his wife of 59 years, Mr. Greene is survived by daughters Sarah Strolle, Leslie and Ellen Hannah; a son, George; a brother; a sister; and 11 grandchildren. A daughter, Elizabeth Wiley, died in 1989.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, at Summit Presbyterian Church, 6757 Greene St.