Junior Achievement Hall of Fame Laureate: Green family, David Green Master Furriers.

• Author: Kalytiak, Tracy
• Position: Special section: Junior Achievement Alaska Business Hall of Fame

Fourth Avenue in Anchorage once was wild and colorful, a rowdy strip where the bars were open 24 hours a day.

"It was a crazy place," remembered longtime Anchorage resident Margy Johnson, a former Cordova mayor who does community outreach for Providence Cancer Center. "But there was always order around David Green Master Furriers. Perry was always out there sweeping the walks, doing what needed to be done."

That thoughtful consideration for others in his community is just one of the many qualities that prompted Junior Achievement of Alaska to name Perry Green--patriarch of the family that has operated David Green Master Furrier since 1922--his wife of 55 years, Gloria, and the rest of the Green family, as laureates in the organization's Alaska Business Hall of Fame. Also vital is their commitment to Alaska and its young people.

The Junior Achievement Alaska Business Hall of Fame is an all-star list of people who succeeded in building Alaska's economy.

"These people are really there to be role models, examples young people can look up to," said Flora Teo, president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement. "The Green family is a perfect example of self-starters in Alaska who built themselves a fantastic business. It's important for kids to be able to hear stories like these. It empowers them."

The Green family includes Perry Green's nephew, David Green, and David's wife, Shani, who now serve at the helm of David Green Master Furrier, as well as Perry's five children: Laurie Young, Deborah Grashin, Alan Green, Jay Green and Beth Balkany. Deborah and Alan still work for the David Green Master Furrier, which currently operates three stores in Anchorage (including a factory), David Green Group at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and a store in Ketchikan.

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Grashin is instrumental in the internal working accounting systems of the David Green business and has been involved in the business for more than 30 years, while Perry's brother, Jerry Green, has been his guide and mentor and, Perry said, a "silent Angel in the business, with wisdom and kindness as his sterling qualities."

Perry Green's friends and associates say he is a model for young people of how to live a life steeped in civic responsibility and social justice. If there's a philanthropic endeavor under way, it's likely 75-year-old Green is in the thick of it.

"There's a goodness and a kindness and a gentleness of spirit," Johnson said of Perry...