Cornelia (Lela) Coster Lounsbery Griffin was born on December 27, 1928 to Phillips Lounsbery and Cornelia Prime Coster Lounsbery in New York City and was raised in Bedford, NY. She attended high school at Oldfields School in Glencoe, Maryland, graduating in 1947. She enjoyed the 6 years she spent working in New York City after she graduated.
On June 6, 1953 she married Clayton Houstoun Griffin, her brother’s boarding school (St. Andrew’s School, Middletown, Delaware) roommate, in New York City. They settled in her husband’s hometown of Atlanta, GA where Clayton worked for the Georgia Power Co. for 40 years before his retirement in 1989. The couple enjoyed traveling after Clayton’s retirement. Lela was very happy with her adopted city and made many lifelong friends there.
She and Clayton were charter members of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church as well Cherokee Town and Country Club. Her husband passed away in 2006 and Lela began attending Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church soon afterwards.
Lela and Clayton had three children: Lela (Karl) Lofgren of Rochester, MN, Bryan (Karen) Griffin of Kennesaw, GA and Phil (Libba) Griffin of Flowery Branch, GA.
She is survived by her three children as well as six grandchildren: Christine and Clayton Lofgren, Dylan (Brittany) and Gaines Griffin, and Kaitlyn and James Griffin, as well as two great-grandsons, Atticus and Knox Griffin. She is also survived by her stepson, Patrick W. (Kathy) Phillips and two step-grandsons, William and Sean (Sarah) Phillips, all of Chesapeake, VA, as well as many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and her older brother, Phillips Lounsbery of Bedford, NY.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Dogwood Forest of Dunwoody Assisted Living and Sandy Springs Place of Atlanta for the excellent care Lela received.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests a memorial to your charity of choice. Memorial services celebrating her life will be conducted on Saturday, the 14th of July at two o’clock in the afternoon at H.M. Patterson & Son Arlington Chapel, 173 Allen Road, NE, Sandy Springs, GA 30328 with a reception following. Prior to the memorial service the family will have gathered for a private interment at Arlington Memorial Park.
