George Bernard Griffenhagen

Born: June 9, 1924 in Portland, OR and shortly thereafter the family moved to Fresno, CA where he grew up and attended Fresno High School and Fresno State College. He is preceded in death by his parents Clara and Richard Griffenhagen, sister Shirley, and his first wife, Joan.

He served 30 months in the 20th Combat Engineers during WWII in North Africa, invasion of Sicily, Normandy Invasion, Battles of Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge, and the liberation of Pilsen, Czechoslovakia shortly before VE Day.

Returned to tge US and attended the University of Southern California earning a MSci in Pharmacy. After receiving his license to practice pharmacy, he concentrated on the history of pharmacy in California and subsequently became curator of Medical Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. After seven years he became Associate Executive Director for C ommunications at the then American Pharmaceutical Association and editor of their journal for more than 17 years. In his more than 40 years at APhA he was a prolific writer of articles and wrote/edited more than a dozen books including the first three editions of the Handbook of Non-Prescription Drugs, and 150 Years of Caring, a history of the association. He was United States representative of pharmacy to WHO, and an officer in international organizations including the International Federation of Pharmacy, vice president of the Pan American Federation of Pharmacy, secretary of the organizing committee of the Joint Japanese-US Conference on Pharmaceutical Science and an International Congress of the History of Pharmacy in Washington DC, among others. Additionally, he planned and managed the association annual meetings for many years. He received virtually every pharmaceutical award for service to American pharmacy including the Remington Medal, as well as many awards from other countries. He is an honorary president of APhA and an honorary member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (UK), After his retirement, he served as executive secretary of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy and in 2019 received the Fischelis Award.

Griffenhagen was also a leading member of the philatelic community with a highly regarded collection of pharmacy on stamps. He held many offices in the American Topical Association (ATA) including president and later editor of their journal, Topical Time, and was elected a Distinguished Topical Collector. He was active in the American Philatelic Societywho awarded him the Luff Award and served as treasurer of the APS Writers Unit #30. He was a member of the Writers Unit Hall of Fame. During the many years he was an active collector, he wrote hundreds of columns about philately for a number of philatelic and pharmacy publications and authored several handbooks of the ATA.

After returning from Europe at the end of WWII, Griffenhagen married Joan Houston, his British sweetheart – a marriage that lasted 63 years until her death in 2006. He is survived by his second wife, Dorothy (Dottie) Smith, and children Dr. Gary Griffenhagen, Gordon Griffenhagen, and Barbara Commerce; grandchildren and great grandchildren: Gregg Griffenhagen (wife Hadley, George and Gavin), Heather Goldman (husband Craig, Garret, Griffen,, and Gibson), James Griffenhagen (wife Kasey, Reese, Aubrey, Nolan, and Sage); Jason Griffenhagen (wife Meg, Sean), Karen McAllister (husband Adam, Edie and Ivy); Jesse and Casey Commerce (Rhea), as well as step-children Stephen (Garland); Susan Kirkman (husband John, Dennis [Meg]), Katharine Stephens (husband Dean, Angela), and Shelley Stone (husband Russell, Sarah).

Memorial services are scheduled at Westminster at Lake Ridge, Woodbridge, VA where he was a resident and the American Pharmacists Association, Washington, DC on December 16. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the APhA Foundation or the Westminster Residents Fund. Interment will be in the Quantico Military Cemetery, Quantico, Virginia on Friday, December 13 at 2:00 PM.