For most of his early life he grew up and lived in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from O’Dea High School, a Catholic all boys school where he played football and ran track. It was there where his abilities as a sprinter were first showcased. When in his junior year, he won the Washington state high school championship in the 100- yard dash and captured both the state titles in the 100 and 220 in his senior year. His triumph in the 100 at the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento, California helped him garner the accolade as the number 1 high school sprinter in the nation in 1963.
Charlie accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Nebraska and came to Lincoln in the fall of 1963. Although freshmen, at that time, were not permitted to compete on their varsity teams, he quickly gained the attention of his fellow athletes during an intramural competition. He also pushed super-star Bob Hayes to a world record performance in the 60- yard dash in New York City at the Madison Square Garden’s indoor meet in January 1964.
Missing out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics at the US Olympic Trials after battling an injury served to motivate his competitive drive and determination to another level. Over the next three years, Greene became the nation’s leading collegiate sprinter capturing 3 consecutive NCAA titles in the 60-yard indoors from 1965 to 1967 and 3 consecutive NCAA titles in the 100-yard dash outdoors.
While at Nebraska, he was active in both Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and ROTC. He earned his degree in 1967 and after attending ROTC summer camp, returned to Lincoln to begin work on a graduate degree and continue to train for the 1968 Olympic Games with would be held in Mexico City that fall.
At the 1968 AAU outdoor national championships, Charlie’s win in the 100- meter final capped off a remarkable evening of competition sports historians have referred to as “The Night of Speed”.
Charlie earned two medals at the Mexico City Olympic Games that fall, garnering the bronze in the 100- meter final despite suffering an injury in the last 30 meters of the race.
What seemed perhaps somewhat remarkable to some, was that only a couple of days later, Charlie would run the lead “leg” on the US men’s 4 x 100-meter relay. His team won gold and set a new world record. That sprint relay team (Charlie Greene, Mel Pender, Ronnie Ray Smith and Jimmie Hines) were trained and coached by the late great Stan Wright. Three members of that same team had qualified and competed against one another in the 100-meter final only days before.
But as Charlie often liked to brag and share, his greatest achievement was in meeting his future wife, Linda Arnone, on a blind date in Mexico City. Linda, a Penn State graduate, was working on assignment for the Philadelphia Inquirer as a journalist. They married in Lincoln on January 18, 1969.
Charlie’s career in the US Army would keep him busy over the next 20 years taking him to several different duty assignments and posts including West Berlin, South Korea, West Point, Fort Meade and Fort Lewis. With the birth of his two daughters, Mercedes and Sybil, Charlie would gain a new understanding of the phrase “and other duties as assigned”. Charlie came to appreciate that those two –Mercedes and Sybil are his greatest legacies, and he was never more proud of seeing them achieve success in their respective careers.
After retiring from the US Army with the rank of Major, Charlie served as an executive for Special Olympics International and traveled around the world.
Linda and Charlie returned to Lincoln in the late 1990s and Charlie worked for the University of Nebraska in Student Affairs before finally retiring. He continued to volunteer and be a resource for student athletes in the UNL Life Skills program and be an advocate for encouraging others to get involved in their communities and giving back to others of “the next generation up “.
And yes, he could generally be visible and most commonly found cheering for his alma mater, The University of Nebraska—GBR!
Charlie demonstrated through his own example and experiences, that you don’t have to have been born in Nebraska to become truly a Nebraskan.
In recent years, even after experiencing some challenging health setbacks, he continued to contribute his talents and expertise in helping to create and teach an OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) course of study on the History and Impact of the Olympic Games.
Charlie was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1992 as well as the US Olympic Hall of Fame and most recently the University of Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class of 2015.
Funeral Service: 1:00 p.m. Saturday (3-19-22) Roper and Sons South Lincoln Chapel, 3950 Hohensee Drive,
Visitation with family present from 4-7 p.m. Friday (3-18-22) Roper and Sons South Lincoln Chapel.
Memorials in lieu of flowers to Nebraska Foundation or Capital Humane Society.