Gerald Thomas Griffin

Gerald Thomas Griffin passed away on November 10th. He was born in Massachusetts in April 1926. His mother and father were from Ireland. He was drafted during WW2 and completed training in 1945. After VJ-Day he was reassigned to the Anti Aircraft battalion at Fort Bliss and was demobilized from military service in 1946. He then reenlisted in the newly formed U.S. Air Force in 1947, becoming a Military Personnel Technician. He retired from active duty as a Master Sargent in 1966.

During his Air Force Career he served in P-51,F-84,F-86,B-52,and C-124 units. He participated in the Berlin Airlift and was assigned to various bases in the world such as Azores Islands, Spain, and Germany. During his final years of military service he was Personnel Adviser to the Air National Guard and Air Reserve units in the Eastern half of the Continental U.S.

He got his Bachelor’s and then a Masters degree in Library Science. After retirement from the Air Force he worked as a library cataloger at USM. He also worked one year as director of the base Library in Bien Hoa Air Force Base and later in Da Nang Vietnam, and was also a library director at Hanscom, and Loring Air Force Bases for the US Civil Service. He also worked at Portland Public Library, and for Josten’s Inc.

Mr. Griffin married Olga, a native of the Czech Republic in Germany in 1950. She passed away in 1972 and was windowed for a year. He then met a fellow librarian June whom he was married too for 49 years until she passed away. He is survived by his son Tom and his wife Felicia, and by his 3 grandchildren Viviana, Patrick and Lucy.

Mr Griffin was an active member of library organizations and a life member of the V.F.W. He was fond of travel, having lived 8 years in foreign countries, speaking various foreign languages. In the course of his travels he visited all U.S. States and all of the world continents except Antarctica. He liked to go to the Griffin ancestral farm in Ireland and to his first wife's native Village in Bohemia. He also loved to read and collect books.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday November 18 at 10 A.M at Holy Martyrs Catholic Church in Falmouth followed by burial in the family plot at Blanchard Cemetery. Reception to follow at the family’s home.