Charles Griffin Jr's Obituary
SFC Charles Griffin Jr. was one of seven children of the union of the late Walter Love Griffin and Georgian Griffin. He was born on December 6, 1936, in Tidewater, Florida. He confessed Christ at Mt. Olive AME Church in Dunnellon, Florida. Mr. Griffin graduated from Booker T Washington high school and won a scholarship for barber school but decided to give it to his sister, Nellie and joined the U.S. Army instead. He met and married the love of his life, Miss Geneva Rainey of Middletown, Conn. in 1959 and had their first child, Marcella in 1960. A second child, Todd was born in 1963. Later, Charles Griffin graduated with a B.A. in Business Administration from The Evergreen State College and completed several courses at Bates Technical College.
Mr. Griffin had a very diverse and fulfilling career in the military. He was stationed in Germany, Alabama, Maryland, Okinawa, Japan and Washington State (twice). He did one tour in Vietnam and one tour in the Philippines with his younger brother Mr. Archie Lee Griffin with the MAC-V Unit from 1970-1971. Mr. Griffin also did a TDY for one year in Korea. While stationed in Germany, he attended the Instructor and Language School in France. Mr Griffin retired from the U.S. Army at Fort Lewis, WA in 1975. Within weeks of retirement he was hired by The Boeing Company and worked there until he retired with his wife, Geneva, and family in Tacoma, Washington.
Mr Griffin was a voracious reader golfer, and enjoyed music, especially jazz. He enjoyed travel, road trips, weight training and walking. He was a regular at the Ft. Lewis McVeigh gym and developed some strong and lasting relationships with fellow retirees. He rode bicycles with his children, and was an avid bird watcher He was a member of the Audubon Bird Society and made frequent trips, counted bird species, and took his two grandsons to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, near Olympia Washington. He was a coach for little league baseball and youth football. He enjoyed playing miniature golf with his grandsons frequently. He loved life and being with his family.
Mr Griffin went home to the Lord on Thursday, January 1, 2015. He was 78 years old. He leaves to cherish his memory: his daughter Marcella Cassandra Griffin Hunter (Gary), his son Lt. Col. Todd Anthony Griffin, his two grandsons, Gary Donnell Hunter II and Ellington Charles Hunter his sisters Marie Lucille Mercer (Roosevelt), Margaret Ann Singleton (Robert), Morrell Jones
(Jimmie) and brother Archie Lee Griffin. He was preceded in death by his wife, Geneva Griffin, sister Nellie Mae Holbert and brother Walter Griffin.
He was a man of great character and integrity who loved his family and will be greatly missed and never forgotten.
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