Beverley A. Griffin

Beverley A. Griffin, 93
1932 - 2025
Peabody, MA - Beverley A. "Chubby" (Glencross) Griffin, age 93, of Peabody, died on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, at North Shore Medical Center, Salem Hospital, surrounded by all of her loving children and grandchildren, following a very brief illness. She was the devoted wife of the late Richard D. "Brownie" Griffin, Sr., with whom she shared over 58 years of marriage and who predeceased her in November of 2015. Born in Lynn, in 1932, she was the daughter of the late William and Mary E. (Casey) Glencross.
Beverley received her nickname "Chubby" at birth, moved to Peabody as an infant, and lived in Peabody for the rest of her life. A proud resident of South Peabody, she attended the Brown Elementary School and graduated from Peabody High School as a member of the Class of 1950. She was an active member of St. Ann's CYO. She had a beautiful singing voice as did her sisters, and they performed for the USO as well as in the CYO shows. She had many life-long friends from South Peabody. After high school, Beverley worked at the GE in Lynn and took classes at Merrimack College. She was thrilled when her granddaughter, Sarah, attended Merrimack years later, and at Sarah's graduation, she and Beverley were honored as Legacy students.
She married Richard, "Brownie", in 1957 and left work when they had their first child. As they built their family, Chubby stayed home with the children while Brownie worked and then started his own company – "Dick, the Welder". While Brownie/Dick did the welding and fabricating, Beverley took care of the business end of things - billing, payroll, accounting, and together they made a great team and built a successful business. When the children were older, Beverley enjoyed working in the Peabody School Cafeteria department in the kitchens and on the lunch truck. She then worked for many years in the office of the Essex County Commissioners. She handled the accounts and payroll for Essex County and enjoyed that job right up until her retirement.
Many large family cookouts and holidays were celebrated at their home in Peabody. But then, Chubby and Brownie made a dream come true when they purchased the Thompson's Lodge on Sebago Lake in Maine. The entire family enjoyed many very happy times at the renamed "Griffins Lodge", where the grandchildren rode tricycles in the dining room, Thanksgiving was filled with a second Thanksgiving Dinner and constant food , crafts, games and aunts and uncles and cousins all weekend, Christmas parties, Halloween parties (per order of Maryann) and beautiful summers spent on the lake where the grandchildren learned to swim, sail and boat and Nanny learned to look away so she wouldn't worry. (She still worried!). The Lodge overflowed with family and friends all year long. Chubby and Brownie stayed year-round in Maine right up until Brownie passed away , but when the cold weather and snow got to be too much Beverley would come back home to Peabody and returned to Maine as soon as the ice was off the lake and the weather warmed up.
Beverley was talented as a singer and was very creative. She made beautiful ceramics, painted, sewed beautiful clothes and quilts, knitted, and decorated cakes. She loved tending to her flowers and gardens. She loved to ice skate and had a pair of skates from Brownie up at the Lodge. She loved to read, and both of her houses were filled with books. But most of all, she loved her large family.
Beverley is survived by her loving children, Atty. Beverley A. Griffin-Dunne, longtime member of the Peabody School Committee, and her husband Robert Dunne of Peabody, Patricia A. Zalewski and her husband Steven of Peabody, Richard D. Griffin, Jr of Naples, ME and Michael J. Griffin and his wife Jana Murphy of Middleton; her beloved grandchildren, Brian Dunne, Maureen Dunne and her husband Demetri Tsonis, MaryCatherine Dunne and Kevin Connerty, Sarah Dunne Kozik and her husband Jeremy Kozik, Cheyenne Zalewski and Anthony DiGiorgio, Thomas Zalewski and Jolie Todd, and Nora Griffin; and her adoring great-grandson Robert "Robby" Kozik. Known as "Nanny", "Teatea" and newly named "G.G." (great grand nanny), Beverley loved her grandchildren and their partners with all her heart and they loved her with all of theirs. Beverley had many pets over the years and will be missed by her constant companion and protector "Daisy", her grand-dog.
Beverley leaves her brother-in-law Peter Matvichuk, sister and brother-in-law Dorothy and Robert Peach, sisters-in law Lois Glencross and Irene Glencross, numerous loving cousins and nieces and nephews, and friends and neighbors in Peabody and Naples, Maine. Beverley was predeceased by her siblings Jean Matvichuk, Alice Liston, William Glencross, Catherine St. Laurent, and John Glencross. Beverley was the mother of the late Maryann Griffin.
Service Information: A Memorial Mass will be held on Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 10 a.m. in St. John the Baptist Church, 17 Chestnut St., Peabody. Burial will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Peabody. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. Memorial Visiting Hours will be on Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. at the SOLIMINE FUNERAL HOME, 426 Broadway (Rt. 129), Lynn. Directions and online guestbook at www.solimine.com