Local store owner dead at age 68

Among students, friends and fellow University City retailers, Fred Green's smiling face will be sorely missed.

The proprietor of University Jewelers died Sept. 12 of lung cancer at the age of 68. The funeral was held Sept. 15.

"He always had a smile for anyone who came in," widow Lois Green said. "He was always interested in talking to anyone who came in, young and old."

Owning the store with his wife since 1985, Green befriended fellow proprietors, community members and especially students during his 17 years in University City.

"Fred was a real gentleman," former Joseph Anthony Hair Styling owner Anthony Voci said. "I've known him since he opened the jewelry store on campus -- for 17 years -- and we've had a lot of laughs together."

"He loved working with students," former Penn Bookstore assistant director Bill Petrick said. "He just liked to help people period. He was a very, very compassionate person."

Indeed, his compassionate nature led him to help out several patrons throughout the years who were in need of repairs, but were short on cash.

"If they didn't have any money to pay, he fixed it anyway," Lois Green said. "Sometimes he would say to them, 'Pay me in a few days.'"

Compassion certainly wasn't the only quality that made Green a well-known and well-liked businessman.

"He was always great to deal with when we were doing business -- kind and considerate and fair and honest, and all of those qualities are something I think we can all learn from," Penn Men's Basketball Coach Fran Dunphy said.

A master of repair, Green was always ready for a challenge, skillfully fixing any piece that came his way.

"He did all the repairs," Lois Green said. "He could fix everything -- a watch, a piece of jewelry."

"No job was too big or too small," Petrick said. "He was always trying to do anything for you."

Green was first diagnosed with lung cancer in March 2001, but refused to let his illness keep him away from his store and beloved patrons.

"He had been sick for quite awhile," his wife said. "He had been working in the store part-time until the last month to do repairs. He would come in and stay as long as he could until he ran out of steam."

Despite his illness, Green remained upbeat and cheerful during his last few months in the store, never showing his weakness.

"He kept fighting, and I will give him great credit for that," Dunphy said. "He was getting weaker and weaker, but you would never have known it from his attitude. He was always positive. If you thought that someone would beat it, that would be this guy."

The Greens, in fact, have a long history of beating the odds.

There was a time when the Greens' store was painfully close to departing University City. Until June 1999, University Jewelers was located in the former bookstore building on the 3700 block of Walnut Street, which was demolished to make way for Huntsman Hall.

Prior to the demolition, Penn forced University Jewelers out of the locale, offering them another under a clause stating that the University could relocate the store again at any time. The clause was promptly rejected by the Greens and lengthy negotiations ensued.

After a great deal of compromise on both sides, the store relocated to its current site at 3421 Walnut Street.

Throughout the ordeal, students and surrounding retailers rallied to keep the store near Penn's campus.

"At the time when we thought we weren't going to have a place to keep the business, everybody on the campus was e-mailing the University to make sure we stayed on the campus," Lois Green said. "That's the kind of business we had."

"He was just a good man," Dunphy said. "When it's your time to go and someone's comments about you are just 'He was a good man,' that means you've been successful."

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