Obituary of Dr. Carlton Greene MD

Carlton Greene MD, age 83, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, after a life well lived. Family and friends will honor Dr. Greene's life on Friday, December 19, 2025 in the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church, 711 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, Maryland 21228. The wake will begin at 10:00 am with a service to follow at 10:30 am. The interment will follow the services at Druid Ridge Cemetery, 7900 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21208. Carlton Cornelius Greene, MD, was the son of sharecroppers, Philmore Cornelius Greene and his wife Willie Mae Secrest Greene. He was the fifth of seven children born in rural Columbia, Tennessee. He attended the local two room Rosenwald School for Coloreds in Maury County, Tennessee until the middle of the fourth grade before moving to Indianapolis, Indiana during the latter part of the Great Migration of Blacks from the rural south. All were seeking more opportunity, if not for themselves but for their children. Dr. Greene always felt this was the most significant event in his life because the improved schooling in Indianapolis proved to be more stimulating academically and paved the way for his future opportunities in pharmacy and medicine. He attended Arsenal Technical High School where he excelled academically and was a member of the school honor society, The Tech Legion. He won the state high school speech contest in oratorical declamation in 1960. He was a member of the great Tech High School Choir, and The Boy's Octette vocal group where he developed a great love for choral music. He was a co-captain of the football team in 1959 and graduated in the top 10 percent of his class. He won the Tech High School Alumni award in 1960. After high school, he attended Butler University on a football grant and was coached by the late Tony Hinkle. In 1965, his last year at Butler, he always wondered how there was a four-way tie for number one in the conference when there were only 9 teams in the conference. He was also a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He was awarded a BS in pharmacy and was elected to the pharmacy honor society. After completing his apprenticeship in pharmacy, he married Marilyn K. Cosby, DDS, and was drafted into the US Army three months later. He served honorably as a pharmacist at William Beaumont General Hospital in El Paso, Texas attaining the rank of Specialist 5th class. Resuming his practice of pharmacy after his army discharge, he applied to medical school. In 1969, he was admitted to Indiana University School of Medicine where he was a member of the honor medical society and graduated in 1973. He completed an internship, residency, and fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1977. He became board certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology and remained on the staff at Johns Hopkins as an instructor in medicine for several years. He joined Clinical Associates Multi Specialty group and practiced medicine for 30 years, retiring in 2014. Nearing retirement, he joined the Heritage Signature Chorale under the direction of Stanley Thurston whose goal was to keep African American music alive. Dr. Greene's other interests included the American Civil War. He always felt that the war was still being fought in the 21st century. During a trip to Mississippi, he visited a cousin who took him to the plantation where his paternal grandmother was born. Cotton was still grown on the plantation but the planting and harvesting is now mechanized. He took a photo of Dr. Greene standing at the edge of a large cotton field and they both reminisced at how at one time, our relatives did all of the cotton picking by hand. This was the field where his paternal grandparents and other relatives had lived in shanties and labored in the hot sun in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Dr. Greene was struck by how far he had come, from the descendants of sharecroppers and slaves to a board-certified medical doctor. Dr. Greene's other interests included photography and writing poetry and essays. He loved photography and had thousands of photos which he was still trying to catalogue at the time of his death. Dr. Greene was a long-time member of St. Katherine's Episcopal Church where he served one termon the vestry. He was a dedicated member of the choir and occasionally did fund raising musical recitals for the church. He last was a member of Memorial Episcopal Church. Dr. Greene departed peacefully from this life on November 26 at Gilchrist Hospice after several years battling cardiac amyloidosis. He was preceded in death by his parents and five siblings. His marriage to the late Marilyn K. Cosby, DDS, ended in divorce. Out of this union, two girls were born, Laura Lee and Carla Greene-Looc. Four grandchildren also mourn his passing: Lucas Lee, Lila Lee, Riley Looc and Devin Looc. He will also be missed by his surviving sister, Carolyn Harden, multiple nieces, nephews and cousins and a host of family and friends.