Greer, James Balfour, 76, of Menlo Park, California, died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, on March 29, 2024.
He was predeceased by his father Capt. Harry H. Greer Jr. USN ret. and his mother Barbara B. Greer, as well as Gabrielle Pryor, William Greer and Teddy Berger Greer.
Born in Rhode Island, Jim moved frequently with his military family, but despite being always the new kid at school, made friends easily and became known for what he called his "gift of gab" as well as for his devotion to sailing. He graduated from Scarsdale, NY high school and then in 1969 from Stanford University, where he was president of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity in which he developed a close community of friends.
Drafted in 1970, he served with the 3rd US Army Infantry Division in Germany, where, as well as protecting his country, he won lasting friends and the equally lasting nickname Jimbo. Upon his discharge, he went to UCLA business school and subsequently worked as CFO for companies on both coasts, near Annapolis, Md. and the San Francisco Bay Area where he had friends and family and was able to sail. Toward the end of his career, he worked with a number of non-profits and wrote an entertainingly caustic chapbook about government accounting. He remained passionate about sailing, and increasingly about automobiles, frequenting car shows and taking his Lotus to drive on regional tracks.
With time, he grew into an environmentalist who believed deeply in reducing his carbon footprint, was often among the first to adopt green technology, and enjoyed becoming known in business as a "green guy".
He never lost his attachment to his Stanford fraternity brothers and maintained that community in part with his first-Wednesday emails about bookstores, histories and literary fiction. In 2019 he hosted a packed, 50th anniversary, Fiji reunion.
He is survived by his wife Tracy Stewart, his sister Adelia Greer, 5 nieces, 4 nephews, their spouses and offspring. A celebration of his life will be held in the future. Please send any donations to a charity of your choice or to Life Moves in honor of Jim.
**
As he wished, Jim will be shipped on ice to Washington state for composting by Green Funeral Home / Human Composting - Return Home. The composting, which will not be legal in California until 2027, takes two months and yields 250 pounds of very fertile soil, of which five pounds will be shipped back to Menlo Park and the rest spread on land in Washington state that desperately needs it.