Ruth Thornton Griffith

Ruth Rosalind Thornton Griffith was born on Christmas Day in 1930, in Atlanta, Georgia, to the late Flossie and Frazier Thornton. Ruth was the last of ten children. Her fierce determination was evident early and became a hallmark of how to live life.

Ruth graduated from Booker T. Washington High School before going on to attend Atlanta's Clark College. In 1952, Ruth received her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and minored in Secretarial Science. After college, she landed her first job at Atlanta Life Insurance, the first Black owned insurance company in Atlanta and the largest in the nation. From there, she went on to teach at several schools in the Atlanta Public School system. She would later retire as a third grade teacher at Carter G. Woodson Elementary.

While attending Clark College, Ruth fell in love with Hubert W. Griffith, an Alabama-born student attending nearby Morehouse College. The two eventually married on September 2, 1951, and from this union, two devoted daughters, Tricia and Sheree, were born.

Ruth was relentless in her pursuits, and decided she wanted more for her family. Inspired by her father, a prominent Black builder in Atlanta, Ruth obtained a real estate license and partnered with her older brother, Calvin. The duo strategically developed real estate in southwest Atlanta. The fearless visionaries started separate realty companies in honor of their parents. After birthing Downer Realty in 1977, in honor of Flossie Downer, Ruth quickly expanded her portfolio and obtained government contracts with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development. As business grew, Ruth encouraged both of her daughters to join the family business.

The brother and sister duo took Atlanta by storm and amassed a robust real estate portfolio. During their ventures, they became fierce participants in battling segregation by buying and building homes in the very communities they were not welcomed to live. They joined forces with Atlanta activists to dismantle Peyton Wall, a physical wall built by White homeowners to intimidate and exclude Blacks. One of Ruth's proudest moments came with breaking barriers in the Peyton Forest community by building her custom home in 1964, two doors down from her brother Calvin.

Ruth entered into eternal rest in the early morning of September 14, 2025. She leaves to cherish her memory her two daughters, Tricia (Donald E) and Sheree (Donald R); four grandchildren, Lauren, Justin, Dede (Jerrell), and Jourdon; and two great-grandchildren, Asia and Brooke Johnson.

Sheree remembers Ruth as "a very self-assured, strong and confident woman. She always inspired me with her impressive business acumen and was ahead of her time. Taking care of and being there for her family was her focus and the most important thing in her life."

Tricia, remembers her mother this way: "Mom was assertive, business-savvy, devoted, feisty, and loving. She was a 'don't start no…won't be no…' kind of woman. She will always be my hero."