Bill was born in Anaheim, California, to William and Doris Griffin of Hansville, Washington, in April, 1947. His father, Bill Sr, was in the army, so in childhood Bill and his two brothers, Don and Ken, lived in Colorado, Alaska, and Japan before the family moved to Seattle. He was a graduate of Shoreline High School in Seattle and the University of Washington.
Bill served in the Army Quartermaster core, first in Washington DC and later in Vietnam. After his discharge from the Army, Bill worked for the City of Seattle, where he met his future wife, Mary. He moved to Olympia when hired by the State of Washington in 1978.
In the Office of State Procurement, Bill was the vehicle buyer, writing contracts both for state offices and counties, cities, fire and police departments across the state. He was one of the first government vehicle buyers in the country to put electric vehicles in the state fleet, and he innovated an early system for online ordering. In 2005, after 26 years, the total purchases from his contracts of vehicles for agencies around the state topped a billion dollars. He retired after 30 years with the state.
After retirement Bill and his wife Mary did some traveling, made some improvements to their home, and enjoyed their cabin on Silver Lake in Cowlitz County. Bill enjoyed ten years of retirement.
No memorial is planned at this time. In lieu of flowers, donations to Nature Conservancy would be appreciated.
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