Walter Conrad Greiner

Walter Conrad Greiner, 98, passed away on May 22, 2016. Walter is survived by his two children, Gary and Cathy, and his sister Helene. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ernst Gotthils Greiner and Ursula Martha Greiner (maiden name Kammerer), wife Florence Elaine, brothers Eric, Frederick, and Otto, and sister Ruth. Walter attended Forest Park High School in Baltimore where he developed a lifelong interest in sports and was a 4-letter man, entering their Hall of Fame, although golf remained his passion. After high school, he entered business college in Baltimore. While still a student and only 18 years old, he distinguished himself in the semi-finals for the national golfing public links title. He met his future wife at the business college and they were married August 10, 1942. With the country now at war, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Medical Administrative Corps on November 28, 1942, attended the Officers Candidate School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and became a medical supply officer. However, the nation needed pilots, and he had perfect vision, so he was recruited into the training program for pilots at Maxwell Field, Alabama. As part of the 427th Air Transport Unit for the U.S. Army Air Corps, he had assignments in several airfields in the south as well as Lincoln, Nebraska. He became proficient in many of the airplanes used in WWII, including the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-25 Mitchell, and the P-38 Lightning. His last assignment was serving as a flying instructor at the Roswell Army Air Field where Boeing B-29 Superfortress transition training was provided for the Army Air Forces. At the time of the nuclear bombing of Japan, he was a Captain, on call for piloting any future nuclear attacks. After the war ended, Walter became a professional golfer for a brief time. He then got a job as executive secretary to the President of Baltimore Transfer Company, a trucking firm. Later, when the firm was bought out by Motor Freight Express in 1966, the family moved to York, Pennsylvania. During his working career and well into retirement, he continued playing golf. While in Baltimore, he won five Spring and three Fall Championships at the Forest Park Golf Course in the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as others at the Clifton Park Golf Course. In York, he won the Senior Championship at the Honey Run Golf Course in 1985. The first of many times he shot his age, he actually shot under his age, scoring 70 when age 71 in 1988. This achievement earned him a Golf Digest Shooter Certificate. In 2000, he was inducted into the State of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame for golf. In retirement, he played golf weekly until the age of 90. He was a kind, generous, loving and supportive husband, father, and friend, and we will carry his love in our hearts forever. A viewing will be held Saturday, May 28 from 2-5 PM, at the Heffner Funeral Chapel & Crematory, Inc.,1551 Kenneth Road, York. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the American Cancer Society in his memory.