C. Falls teacher dies in ATV accident

The Daily Inter Lake

A seventh-grade teacher at Columbia Falls Junior High School has died after suffering a head injury Sunday night in a four-wheeler crash outside Columbia Falls.

Joe Greene, 35, was pronounced dead shortly before 3 p.m. Monday at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

?We?ve lost a beloved and respected staff member,? said Columbia Falls Junior High Principal Dave Wick.

Greene was westbound on U.S. 2, having just passed the city limits, at 10 p.m. Sunday when his four-wheeler jerked suddenly to the right, said Montana Highway Patrol trooper Martin Shrock.

The four-wheeler rolled one and a half times ? ejecting Greene, who suffered a serious head injury.

Witnesses in cars both behind Greene and approaching him in the eastbound lane of traffic told investigators they didn?t observe anything to explain why the four-wheeler suddenly veered, Shrock said.

Greene had been a teacher with the Columbia Falls school district for more than 12 years, said his wife, Nacona Greene.

?Students loved him, his co-workers loved him, I mean everybody loved him,? she said. He?s just one of those guys who would help anyone… He was loved by so many.?

A father of two, Greene loved to hunt and fish, was a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and had an excellent singing voice, Nacona Greene said. Greene coached football, baseball, and volleyball, both for the school district and his children?s teams.

Excessive speed was not a factor in the crash. Greene was not wearing a helmet, Shrock said.

Greene?s death is the eighth traffic fatality of 2008 on Flathead County highways.