Clarice Bjurman Griffin

Clarice Bjurman Griffin left us peacefully on July 17, 2025, at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, California, surrounded by her children and members of her extended family. Devoted mother and beloved grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, sister and friend, she is reunited with her husband, the love of her life and soulmate, Keith H. Griffin, who predeceased her eight years earlier.

Clarice was born April 30, 1928, in Cumberland, Wisconsin, beginning a journey from a 200-acre dairy farm in Foxboro, Wisconsin, to Minnesota to a Hollywood studio to the suburbs of Los Angeles and, finally, a Central Coast home with a sweeping view of the Pacific. She was the second-youngest of seven children born to John Bjurman, the son of Swedish immigrants, and Helesina Bjurman, a Swedish immigrant. Young Clarice learned the valuable lessons of family, faith and hard work while tending to chores ranging from caring for the Bjurman chickens and vegetable garden to helping Helesina around the family home. Sandwiched between early morning and late afternoon chores were long walks to school, which often meant a slog along snow-covered roads. Upon high school graduation after the close of World War II she moved to Minneapolis and a secretarial job—her first taste of big-city life.

After two years in Minneapolis Clarice came west and moved into a home in Glendale, California with her sister Vivian, and began work at nearby Walt Disney Studios. Living nearby was a young veteran and USC student, Keith Griffin. Clarice and Keith met in 1948 on a blind date at a film-industry favorite, the famous Smokehouse restaurant in Burbank.

The Swedish beauty and the former B-25 and P-38 pilot made a dashing couple. They were married in 1951 at the historic Wee Kirk o' the Heather Chapel at Forest Lawn, Glendale, and were inseparable for the next 66 years. The newlyweds settled in La Cañada and Clarice left her studio post with the distinction of having inspired the name of an animated Disney character: “Clarice,” the love interest of chipmunks Chip and Dale.

After the birth of daughters Carolyn and Melinda, the family moved in 1958 to a newly built home in La Crescenta. Son Jim followed in 1962. Social and always impeccably dressed, Clarice was active in the local Women's Club Juniors and the United Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir. She and Keith also were active in the Pasadena Archery Club. Clarice enjoyed playing bridge with friends and neighbors and was a voracious reader, avid gardener and skilled cook. Most summer vacations were spent on Balboa Island. Other memorable family trips included boating on the Sacramento River Delta, driving to Clarice’s parents’ farm in Wisconsin and visiting family in Springdale, Utah, outside Zion National Park. They later kept a sailboat at Marina del Rey and enjoyed sailing along the coast or to Catalina Island, or simply relaxing onboard.

Clarice and Keith shared a lifelong love of travel and turned new acquaintances into friends wherever they went. In 1962, on their first major trip together, they sailed to Hawaii on the luxurious liner SS Lurline, the Queen of the Pacific. They returned to the South Pacific 14 years later, this time to Tahiti. Many adventures followed, including trips to Germany, Greece, Scandinavia, St. Petersburg and more trips to Hawaii. On the mainland, they saw America coast to coast.

By 1987, with all three children having graduated from college, Clarice and Keith looked for their eventual retirement home and found the perfect spot in Shell Beach, on the San Luis Obispo County coast. They permanently left La Crescenta and moved north 12 years later, where they enjoyed the beauty and tranquility of the seaside, keeping in touch with their many friends, doting on grandchildren and watching USC football and golf on TV. Clarice was a whiz at crossword puzzles, newspaper quizzes and Scrabble and was an enthusiastic fan of Dodgers baseball. She also loved reuniting with her siblings and many nieces and nephews at biennial Bjurman family reunions.

Clarice had a strong and unwavering Christian faith. Her love, generosity, kindness, patience, sunny outlook, good humor, unshakable common sense and undeniable smarts won't be forgotten. But what remains truly indelible were her lasting beauty, grace and class. Not long ago, after a Shell Beach neighbor inquired about Clarice, the neighbor blurted, "She's a lady. She-is-a-lady!"

Clarice is preceded in death by her parents, four sisters, two brothers, and her husband Keith.

She is survived by children Carolyn (Mitch) Avalon, Melinda (Donn) Risolo, and Jim (Cherie) Griffin, as well as grandchildren Jimmy and Andrea Risolo; Scott (Kayla), Ryan and Allie Griffin; step-granddaughters Ashley and Brittany Avalon; and great-granddaughter Auden. A private service is planned at Los Osos Valley Cemetery.