Page 12 - April 2024 Issue.indd

DOLLARS AND SENSE by Tolbert Rowe

A Tribute to Bill Greenly

On March 13th at approximately 4:00 Harry Hughes since boyhood. He had payments in person. If he didn’t the
pm one of Caroline County’s most a lot of stories of growing up in Denton payments would not have been made.
beautiful people transitioned to their during the depression and his escapades
rightful place among the angels. Mr. with Harry. Bill’s career with GMAC evolved to the

Bill Greenly died at peace in his home point that he became a field auditor who
which is where he wanted to be when Although they served as governor in reported directly to the Chief Financial

he took his last breath. two different states during two diff erent Officer of GMAC. His job took him
times, Sherman Tribbett was elected for all over the world and the United
Four months shy of his 97th birthday a single term from 1973-1977 and Harry States visiting dealerships or GMAC
Bill lived a unique life as a bachelor, he Hughes 2 terms from 1979 to 1987, all field offices where he reviewed the
never married, nor did he have children. three of them grew up within a block compliance with corporate policies and
He did not drink, smoke, or gamble. His of each other in Denton on Franklin St. procedures and fi nancial management.
was a simple lifestyle keeping his mind The plague Bill advocated for is at the

busy painting, following his beloved corner of 2nd St and Franklin adjacent Bill loved to travel and spend time in
Orioles, staying up to date on current to the Board of Education parking lot. various parts of the country and the
events and politics and staying in touch world. His assignments usually lasted
with close friends. He lived life on his It is from this community project that weeks and in some cases months.
terms without interference of a spouse my friendship with Bill began. Over Without the responsibilities of being
or children, not that having a spouse, time our friendship grew closer. a husband and father he was able to
or children is a dreadful thing. Bill was take on the tasks needed and commit
Bill had a fascinating career that took
perfectly content with living alone. His the time necessary until the job was
him all over the United States, Australia,
only survivors are a nephew and Niece completed.
and Europe. He began working with
and a lot of close friends.
General Motors Acceptance Corp One of the fascinating things about Bill
I met Bill about 20 years ago when he (GMAC) in the early 1950’s as an is that he did his job at a time when
approached me at a time that I was account representative lending money an auditor’s equipment was an adding
serving on the Caroline County Board to individuals to purchase General machine, a ledger book, and a legal

of Education and he was advocating Motors vehicles. Borrowers who paid pad. The audits that Bill did that took
for the installation of the a plague were easy for Bill. Borrowers that didn’t weeks can now be done by accountants/
commemorating Denton’s being the were his responsibility to collect. auditors in the matter of hours if not
home of two governors from two states, minutes today. To say that Bill was “old
Bill had a remarkable memory and school” would be an understatement.
Governor Harry Hughes of Maryland he recalled numerous “problem
and Governor of Delaware Sherman
borrowers” who he kept in regular He never owned a computer, cell phone
Tribbett. Bill was a friend of Governor
contact because he had to collect their or pager. He would marvel at how a
smartphone works and how Google
would give you multiple sources of
information for a single inquiry. But his
“Your Mortgage Consultant Since 1985”
fascination was usually short lived as
Purchase or Refinance he had no interest in exploring exactly
how all this “technology” worked. A
TV remote and an answering machine
was the extent of Bill’s use of technology
if you consider a TV remote and
answering machine to be “technology.”
115 E Dover St. Ste 3 - Easton, MD
Bill was a child of the depression and
tolbert@baycapitalmortgage.com C. Tolbert Rowe,
www.baycapitalmortgage.com NMLS Vice President/Lending as such was extremely frugal with
182844 his resources. Those closest to him
would actually consider him “tight.”
410-819-3005 / cell 410-310-3520 I will venture a guess and say that I
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