George Wheeler Griffin, 92, passed away at his home in Vestavia on April 18, 2018. He was born in Cristobal, Panama in 1925, the fourth child of William Wilkes Griffin and Eugenia Wheeler Griffin. As a child he watched the world's mightiest ships pass through the Panama Canal. His first airplane ride was on a Ford Tri-Motor across the Isthmus in 1939. He attended Cristobal High School and then Ramsey High School before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1943. After boot camp in San Diego, he spent most of the war in New England servicing aircraft. After the war he attended Birmingham-Southern College, but left school during the Berlin Airlift to accept a commission as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Japan. When the Korean War broke out in the summer of 1950, he was deployed in frequent combat for nine months. He spent his 25th birthday under fire in the Pusan Perimeter, so he was very grateful for every subsequent birthday! After training troops at Fort Benning and standing vigil in West Germany against the Soviets, he left active service and finished his B.A. in History at the University of Alabama in 1955. He soon began a career in banking and credit with 1st Nat'l/AmSouth Bank and the U.S. Small Business Administration that would last almost 50 years . He was predeceased by his parents, his sisters Mary Griffin Lynch and Sarah Griffin, his brother William Wilkes Griffin, Jr., his infant daughter Catherine Louise Griffin, his wife Peggy Morris Griffin, his wife Amelia Dabney Griffin, his nephews Michael A. Livingston, Richard G. Livingston, Alexander L. Livingston, and his great-grand nephew Alexander D. Hutchins. He is survived by his children George Wheeler Griffin, Jr. of Birmingham (Giavanna), Sarah Griffin Pemberton of Birmingham (Kyle), and James Blount Griffin of Birmingham (Theresa), his grandchildren George Addison Griffin of Austin, Texas, Mary Virginia Pemberton of Birmingham, Genevieve Grace Griffin of Birmingham, and Richard Monroe Griffin of Birmingham, his stepson Thomas Gerald Peacock, III, his sister-in-law Florence N. Griffin of Thurmond, Maryland, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins scattered between the Rio de la Plata in Argentina and the Umpqua River in Oregon. During his long life he was at different times active in the Kiwanis Clubs and Chambers of Commerce of North Birmingham and of Fairfield, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, the Church of the Advent, Kairos, and Cursillo. In recent decades he was a daily communicant at St. Peter Catholic Church and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. Funeral Mass will be held at 10 am, Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, with burial to follow at Elmwood Cemetery. Visitation will be on Monday evening, April 23, from 5 to 7:30, at Valley Chapel in Homewood, Holy Rosary to be prayed at 7. The family is very grateful for many great doctors and medical staff as well as the caregivers at Right at Home and Hope Hospice who helped him have a long life and peaceful death. Memorials in lieu of flowers should be given to St. Bernard Prep School in Cullman, AL, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, and the Tears Foundation of Alabama.
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George Wheeler Griffin, 92, passed away at his home in Vestavia on April 18, 2018. He was born in Cristobal, Panama in 1925, the fourth child of William Wilkes Griffin and Eugenia Wheeler Griffin. As a child he watched the world's mightiest ships pass through the Panama Canal. His first airplane ride was on a Ford Tri-Motor across the Isthmus in 1939. He attended Cristobal High School and then Ramsey High School before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1943. After boot camp in San Diego, he spent most of the war in New England servicing aircraft. After the war he attended Birmingham-Southern College, but left school during the Berlin Airlift to accept a commission as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Japan. When the Korean War broke out in the summer of 1950, he was deployed in frequent combat for nine months. He spent his 25th birthday under fire in the Pusan Perimeter, so he was very grateful for every subsequent birthday! After training troops at Fort Benning and standing vigil in West Germany against the Soviets, he left active service and finished his B.A. in History at the University of Alabama in 1955. He soon began a career in banking and credit with 1st Nat'l/AmSouth Bank and the U.S. Small Business Administration that would last almost 50 years . He was predeceased by his parents, his sisters Mary Griffin Lynch and Sarah Griffin, his brother William Wilkes Griffin, Jr., his infant daughter Catherine Louise Griffin, his wife Peggy Morris Griffin, his wife Amelia Dabney Griffin, his nephews Michael A. Livingston, Richard G. Livingston, Alexander L. Livingston, and his great-grand nephew Alexander D. Hutchins. He is survived by his children George Wheeler Griffin, Jr. of Birmingham (Giavanna), Sarah Griffin Pemberton of Birmingham (Kyle), and James Blount Griffin of Birmingham (Theresa), his grandchildren George Addison Griffin of Austin, Texas, Mary Virginia Pemberton of Birmingham, Genevieve Grace Griffin of Birmingham, and Richard Monroe Griffin of Birmingham, his stepson Thomas Gerald Peacock, III, his sister-in-law Florence N. Griffin of Thurmond, Maryland, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins scattered between the Rio de la Plata in Argentina and the Umpqua River in Oregon. During his long life he was at different times active in the Kiwanis Clubs and Chambers of Commerce of North Birmingham and of Fairfield, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, the Church of the Advent, Kairos, and Cursillo. In recent decades he was a daily communicant at St. Peter Catholic Church and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. Funeral Mass will be held at 10 am, Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, with burial to follow at Elmwood Cemetery. Visitation will be on Monday evening, April 23, from 5 to 7:30, at Valley Chapel in Homewood, Holy Rosary to be prayed at 7. The family is very grateful for many great doctors and medical staff as well as the caregivers at Right at Home and Hope Hospice who helped him have a long life and peaceful death. Memorials in lieu of flowers should be given to St. Bernard Prep School in Cullman, AL, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, and the Tears Foundation of Alabama.
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