Deceased January 5, 2022

View alumni profile (log in required)
Read obituary

In Memory

Thayer Greene '50
Thayer Ainsworth Greene, of Amherst, died peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, on Jan. 5.

Thayer majored in history, graduated magna cum laude and belonged to Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He earned a B.D. and Th.M. at Union Theological Seminary, NYC, and a Ph.D. in psychology at Union Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio. He studied at the C.G. Jung-Institut, Zurich, Switzerland, graduating from the C.G. Jung Institute, NYC.

At age 18, in September 1944, Thayer shipped to Europe to serve in the U.S. Army, 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Division. He fought in the Battle of Cologne. April 11, 1945, he helped liberate the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp, Nordhausen, Germany. His war years shaped the trajectory of his life.

Thayer met his beloved Anita (Mount Holyoke) on a blind date that blossomed into a 70-year marriage. Partners in life and work, they raised three girls and shared travel and adventures.

Thayer Greene '50 and Anita Greene
Thayer served as chaplain at Amherst College, and associate and then interim pastor at First Church in Amherst. He served as full-time pastor at First Church from 1954 to 1962. After earning his Th.M. at Union Seminary, he changed his career path. In 1965, he packed up his family to study at the C.G. Jung-Institut in Zurich. Upon returning to NYC, he started a career in Jungian psychotherapy.

Thayer shared his profound soulfulness with congregants, clients, friends, colleagues and family. He was committed to civil rights, social justice and democratic politics. He was co-founder of the Jung Association of Western Mass and the C.G. Jung Institutes of New England and of New York. He did individual, couples and group therapy.

Summers spent in New Hampshire at his ancestral home connected him to a community of friends and family. Thayer was passionate about tennis, golf and the Red Sox.

—Rachel Greene-Lowell ’80