Geraldine Lenore Griffith

Geraldine Lenore Griffith died peacefully during an afternoon nap at Westminster Woods on New Years' Eve, 2015. Gerry, as she was known to her friends, and Bunny, as she was known to her family, was born on October 23, 1922, to Olive Genevieve and Phillip Robert Waller in Seattle, Washington. She grew up along the shore of Seattle’s Lake Union and enjoyed many summers sailing up and down the Inside Passage to Alaska off the Pacific Coast. She graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended the University of Washington where she met her life partner, Stephen S.D. Griffith in 1943. They married on June 22, 1944 at the University Chapel and began a great adventure traveling the world.

As the wife of a Naval Officer, Gerry traveled to all fifty states and lived in eight of them. Hawaii was her favorite and Alaska was a close second. After Steve retired from the Navy in 1968, Gerry and Steve lived in Tallahassee, Florida, until 2007 when they moved to Westminster Woods on Julington Creek in St. Johns, FL. While living in Tallahassee, Gerry was an active member of the Garden Club and the Episcopal Church of the Advent where she served on the Altar Guild and sang in the choir. Gerry and Steve loved to dance and attended a weekly dance assembly in downtown Tallahassee. They also loved to read plays and founded a play-reading group which met monthly for 20 years.

Gerry is survived by her beloved husband, Steve, of seventy-one years; her older daughter, Christy and son-in-law George H. Baldwin, III (Jacksonville, FL); younger daughter, Dr. Catherine A. Griffith (Boston, MA); grandson, George H. Baldwin, IV (Jacksonville, FL); and three great grandchildren, Sofia Lenae, Rhiannon Lenae, and Porter Russell Baldwin (Irvine, CA).

The family wishes to extend a special thank you to the Rev. Deborah A. McLeod from the Mandarin United Methodist Church for her ongoing spiritual ministry and outreach to both Gerry and Steve. The family wishes to also thank Dr. Merlin Conrad and the Community of Westminster Woods on Julington Creek for the friendship and compassionate care provided to Gerry during the 8 years she resided there. A Memorial Service will be held in the auditorium at Westminster Woods on Saturday, January 9, 2016 with music prelude beginning at ten o’ clock in the morning followed by the service at ten-thirty. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in memory of Geraldine L. Griffith, to the Arthritis Foundation, http://www.arthritis.org (404-872-7100).

Hardage-Giddens, The Oaklawn Chapel, 4801 San Jose Boulevard, is serving the family.