Born in Milwaukee on July 10, 1864, Howard Greene was the son of Elizabeth Lynes Cadle Greene and Thomas A. Greene, one of the partners in the thriving Milwaukee drug firm of Greene and Button. He was named for his uncle Captain Howard Greene who was killed during the Civil War. The younger Howard Greene grew up in Wisconsin and could recall visits from his grandfather, Welcome Arnold Greene, who often journeyed from Rhode Island to visit him in Milwaukee. He attended the Milwaukee and Markham academies and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1886. Following graduation, Greene worked as a clerk for his father's firm. After Thomas Greene's death in 1894, the company was reincorporated as the Jerman, Pflueger, and Kuehmsted Company. Eleven years later it was again reincorporated as the Milwaukee Drug Company, with Howard Greene as president. Although less active in the business after 1902, Greene remained in a supervisory capacity until 1937 when it was sold to McKesson & Robbins. From 1902 to 1912 Greene was president of the Fidelity Trust Company of Milwaukee and in later years he was successively secretary, vice-president, and chairman of the board of the Wisconsin Securities Company. He was also a member of the board of trustees of Milwaukee-Downer College and the Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company.
Howard Greene also had a military career, serving with the 4th Wisconsin Infantry during the Spanish American War and as a major of the 107th Engineers, 32nd Division during World War I. In 1919 he became a lieutenant colonel in the reserves.
In 1927 Greene was appointed receiver of the Bankers Joint Stock Land Bank of Milwaukee by the Federal Farm Loan Board. Settlement of the bankruptcy which resulted from mismanagement and the sale of securities mistakenly thought by investors to be instrumentalities of the federal government, was long and complicated and the assets were not sold until 1932. Greene continued to be involved with this receivership until 1938.
In 1936 after the death of his first wife, Louise McMynn Greene, Colonel Greene married Carolyn Anderson and settled in Delaware. Being a man of means and wide interests, even after his retirement Greene returned frequently to Milwaukee to attend meetings. The history of his family was of great interest to Greene, and after his retirement he was able to devote himself to this study. He died in 1956 while the second volume of the Journals of Welcome Arnold Greene, which he edited, was being printed. Surviving him were his wife and six children.
