Dennis H. Green, 72, of West Bend joined his wife, Doris G. (nee Pearson) of 51 years, in heaven Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013, at Kathy Hospice. He was born July 16, 1940, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to Harold F. and Agnus (nee Wick) Green.

Dennis is survived by his three children: Harold of Salt Lake City, Hilary (Tim) McGuire of West Bend and Justin (Wendy) of Virginia; his daughter-in-law Anna Green of Arvada, Colo.; seven grandchildren: Sherina (Jerry) Gold, Dennis Green, Joshua (Rachel) Green, Hope Green, Faith Green and Joseph Green; and two great-grandchildren: Noah Gold and Olivia Green. He is further survived by two siblings: Gary (Jeanine) Green and Sally (Jim) Cooley, and other relatives and friends.

Dennis started working in the Alberta oil fields at the age of 14, earning the “driller” position by the age of 18. At the age of 17, he said he almost froze to death in the oil fields, drilling in conditions 30 degrees below zero. Perhaps that was the impetus he needed to head south to Golden, Colo., where he landed a job as a pipe fitter and mechanic for the railroad and met his wife, Doris, who he married July 21, 1961. Dennis worked with his father-in-law at the railroad for 10 years and then left to join his friend from Canada who started a mining company called Harrison Western for the next 35 years.


At Harrison Western, Dennis concentrated his efforts on the design and construction of various hydroelectric, industrial and mining projects culminating in 50 miles of underground tunneling. While there, he set North American shaft-sinking records and introduced earth pressure balance technology to the United States tunneling industry.

Dennis later shifted his efforts to address the growing need for mine-water remediation, which culminated in numerous water treatment techniques enabling heavy industrial mining operations to discharge water exceeding drinking water standards. One of the more extraordinary techniques developed uses the ionic qualities of encapsulated peat moss to extract gold, copper, arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals. Another technique used engineered membrane separation to selectively remove various waste stream contaminants. While this work resulted with the award of 21 patents, it was not until the last years of his career when orders for water treatment systems began to materialize.

One of the first breakthroughs occurred after Dennis, in his 60s demonstrated a pilot plant in the high mountains of Peru (13,000 feet) at one of the worlds largest gold mine (Yanacocha Gold Mine.) Returning with an order in hand, his next challenge was constructing the large-scale system in Colorado, transporting it via rail, ship and air to the mountains of Peru, then overseeing the final assembly. With the world’s largest gold mine on the client list, mine-owners around the world began to show interest. However, at this time, due to health concerns Dennis had to retire.

Despite all of Dennis’ great professional accomplishment, he remained a quiet and humble man who loved the Lord and was devoted to the welfare of his wife and family. A memorial service will be held Monday, May 27, 2013, at Pleasant View Cemetery in Logan, Kan.

A special thank you to Dr. Muhammad Mian and the Hartford Hospital for excellent medical care; and Lisa Perkins, Joanna Narwold, Marissa McDonald, and Tim McGuire for the loving care and provisions which allowed Dennis to enjoy his latter years in life.

The Schmidt Funeral Home of West Bend is serving the family. Online guestbook and condolences available at www.schmidtfuneralhome.com.