George Henry Griffiths Sr.

George Griffiths Obituary

George H. Griffiths, Sr. (86), of Tucson, Arizona, passed away peacefully on February 23, 2024 with his wife of 57 years by his side. George, known by many of his friends as Griff, was born on June 25, 1937 in Whitehall, Illinois. A retired Navy veteran of 24 years who loved animals and adopted numerous stray dogs during his lifetime. Griff is survived by his wife Ha (Tran), his two sons, George Jr. "Hank" and Claude "Ted", and his five grandchildren and four great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Humane Society.

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Published by Arizona Daily Star from Feb. 26 to Mar. 3, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for George Griffiths

2 Entries

Pham

February 28, 2024

We will miss you dearly Uncle G!!! Love ya a lot. Thank you Hank for the great write up. I knew how your parents met, and how amazing he is, but to read about his life commement and how you guys both followed his footstep into the service ... thank you for all you guys have done and do to keep us save... he is an amazing man. Love him and love you guys. My heart goes out to you guys. Hugs...

Hank Griffiths

February 27, 2024

Dad was honorably discharged from the Navy in the Spring of 1976. His last ship board assignment was on board the USS America, CV-66, one of three Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers built for the United Sates Navy in the 1960s. He served as the noncommissioned officer in charge of the ship servicemen division onboard the ship. The ship servicemen were in charge of managing and operating the shipboard retail and service activities, such as the ship´s store, vending machines, barber shops, coffee kiosks, laundry and tailor shops. Essentially his job was to ensure that the military personnel serving on the vessel had the most comfortable living conditions.

During a shore duty assignment in 1966 at a logistics establishment known as Naval Support Activity Saigon, Dad ran the commissary and exchange stores for the US forces that would come ashore during the war. It was there that he met my mom, Ha, who also worked in the Navy Exchange facility. They were later married on May 23, 1966.

Their first stateside assignment after Vietnam was in Norfolk, VA where Dad served onboard the USS Wright (CC-2). The Wright was the most modern of its time of two Command Communications ships in the Navy whose primary function was to provide a mobile command post for the National Command Authorities. His next assignment was at Naval Support Activity Crane, Indiana. This is where my brother, Ted and I were born in Bedford in 1969 and 1968 respectively. His next assignment was in Morocco, Africa, followed by Fallon, NV and then San Diego, CA. Dad was an avid hunter and fisherman and we remember going with him on a number of fishing trips in Nevada and California teaching us how to catch and clean a variety of fresh water fish.

After his retirement from the Navy, Dad moved the family from San Diego, CA to Tucson, AZ as he preferred the hot dry climate due to his permanent disability as a result of service in the Navy. I was 7 and my brother, Ted was 6 at the time and we lived with mom and dad, until we departed after graduating from high school in 1986 and 1987 respectively. Dad was our caretaker while we were in primary and secondary school while mom worked at the Davis-Monthan AFB Exchange. He cooked for us, did the laundry and shopping, and made sure Ted and I had chores to do around the home to teach us responsibility and accountability at an early age. Mom didn´t drive and would take the bus to work in the morning and dad would pick her up in the evening. Often times after school dad would take me and my brother to the Base Bowling alley for French fries while we waited on mom to get off of work. Sometime we would even bowl a game. Dad also loved his guns and he taught Ted and I how to shoot a variety of pistols, rifles and shotguns that he owned. Arizona is an open carry state, and dad would always carry wherever he went.

Dad was a huge animal lover, and I cannot recall a time when we didn´t have some kind of animal in our home. Our pets included a number of stray dogs that he would adopt, Ships, Shorty, Tramp, Gizmo, Sheba, Chuy, Pierre, and Buddy. A variety of different birds, desert tortoises, a chameleon when we were in Africa, and he even adopted a ferret that lived with me at the Air Force Academy during my sophomore year.

I am confident it was because of my dad´s love of his service in the Navy and his patriotism to our country that both my brother and I served as officers in the US Air Force. He was an excellent example of service and to his last day gave back in some way donating items and money to a number of veteran´s organizations.

After Mom´s retirement from the Army Air Force Exchange Service, they both traveled the world on number of cruises visiting a variety of countries in Europe, the Mediterranean, South East Asia, and the Caribbean. Traveling was something they both enjoyed doing together, and we were fortunate to spend Christmas 2023 as a family sailing on the Allure of the Seas in the Caribbean visiting the Bahamas, Jamaica and Haiti.

A rare form of Leukemia took Dad quickly from us, but he lived a very productive life of service and love of his family. He will be missed very much.

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