Her family includes her two children, Steve Griffin and Diane Lemmon, nephews Jeff Grubbs and Ken Grubbs; grandchildren Rachel Renee Maitland and Rebecca Jean Griffin, Danny Townsend (Mandi), Andy Lemmon(Lindsey), and Gracie Lemmon, along with her great-nephew Matthew Grubbs and great-niece Julie Helton (Jeremy and son Asher) Her great grandchildren are Miles and Alexander Maitland, Simon Townsend, Cecilia Lemmon and Annabella Lemmon. She was preceded in death by her husband Tom Griffin, and her parents Raymond Daniel and Katherine Sprout Hewitt; her sisters Betty Hewitt, Peggy Grubbs, and brother, James Hewitt.
Virginia was raised amongst family in North Carolina farming land. As a young adult, she moved to Detroit and trained as a book keeper. She took art classes at night and was extremely talented at portraits and landscapes.
She literally fell into the arms of her future husband at a church function when she tripped on some stairs. After they married, she worked as he finished college in journalism at UT. They spent over 60 years together raising two children and often moving to new opportunities. She worked as a book keeper in several places but focused on her role as a housewife and mother primarily.
She loved gardening and left a trail of crepe myrtles and rose bushes as they moved from city to city. In her circle of friends in each city, Bunko was always a favorite activity. She delighted in her grandchildren and great- grandchildren in her later years. Once an accomplished and avid baker, in recent years she fretted if someone came to visit and she had no cookies or pie to offer them, so a collection of cookies and other goodies from Seessel's were always ready to share. She was close to her sisters and brother, spending time together with their families when the children were young. She remained loyal and close to them as the years went by, with a lifelong close bond to her mother-in-law and her husband's family as well.
Family and friends will gather on Monday, August 19 from five o'clock until seven o'clock in the evening and funeral services will be on Tuesday, August 20 beginning at ten o'clock in the morning all held at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38119. Rev. Jathaniel Cavitt from Colonial Park U.M.C. will lead the funeral service. Memorials in Virginia's name may be offered to N.A.M.I. at www.nami-memphis.org. Online condolences, directions and floral offerings may be found through www.memphisfuneralhome.net.
