John James Green

A WINDOW CLEANER, gardener and history buff who devoted his life to his twin daughters, grandchildren and French bulldog Otis would start each day by opening the window andshouting out to the street: “Good morning to the world!”

John James Green, who grew up in Queen’s Crescent and lived in West Hampstead for decades, died of a suspected heart attack outside the overground station in West End Lane on Friday.

It was just a few days before his 65th birthday – an occasion his family marked on Monday at the Nando’s in Kentish Town where he loved to go to for a celebratory meal.

“Whatever the weather he would be there for us,” daughter Courtney said this week.

“He lost his own mother, Dora, when he was 33 and that really affected him. He became a mum figure to us all. He taught my daughter how to cook. He taught our kids how to plant things in the garden and took them to the Peace Park with his French bulldog Otis.”

She added: “He would always say to us that life is too short. And every morning he opened the window and said ‘good morning to the world’.”

As a boy he went to Carlton School in Gospel Oak, which closed four years ago, and later the London Nautical School in south London.

He had lived in West Hampstead for the last 30 years and held various jobs over the years – most recently at the Travis Perkins in West End Lane before being made redundant when it shut down.

Courtney said she believed her father may have known he was unwell on the day as he had left his home in Brassey Road without Otis – always by his side – and his phone.

He also left the front door unlocked.

“I think he didn’t want us to find him at home, and he was well known in the cafés and coffee shops around West Hampstead. I think he knew there would be people there who would come and help him,” she said.

Mr Green loved taking his daughters to Nando’s

Courtney recalled fun-packed childhood trips to Disneyland with her twin sister Tuesday, adding: “He would take us to Portugal and Tenerife. I feel like we’ve been to every beach in the UK. He showed up every month and took us to Nando’s, normally in Kentish Town near where we grew up.”

Mr Green was a history expert who would take his grandkids out on bike rides around the capital, giving them lessons along the way. Courtney said: “He was a cab driver when we were growing up, then he was a chauffeur – he’d be picking us up in all these the posh cars.

“He worked as a window cleaner too – everyone will know him for the blue van he used to drive. “Sometimes me and Tuesday would go out with him at 4am doing the windows – he just loved being with us.”

Mr Green when he was with 33, pictured with his mother Dora

She recalled how her father had signed up for a college course solely to use the grant money to pay for her to enrol on a micro-blading course, adding: “He did it just for that at first, but he ended up completing the course and really enjoying it. It was in business, but I think what he really wanted to do was photography.”

Courtney said the most recent music he had listened to on his phone was Elvis, Fleetwood Mac, Oasis, Phil Collins, UB40, John Lennon, Tracy Chapman and Rod Stewart.

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Mr Green leaves behind his twin daughters Courtney Mercedes Green and Tuesday Primrose Green, his grandchildren Storm, Romeo, Maleah and Monroe, brother Wayne and sister Shari. And Otis, who is being cared for by friends.