Alice was born on May 7, 1937, at the Mary Alley Hospital, Marblehead, MA, to Aubrey A. and Alice (Holland) Britain. She attended Marblehead public schools through her sophomore year of high school, when her family relocated to Schenectady, NY. She graduated from Schenectady High School in 1955 and went on to attend Middlebury College, where she majored in American Literature and graduated in 1959.
On April 30, 1960, Alice married her childhood sweetheart from Marblehead, Robert “Bob” M. Griffin. The couple settled in Hamilton, MA, where they raised their family and lived for 40 years before retiring to Swampscott, MA in 2004. They shared 48 happy years together before Bob’s death in 2008.
Throughout her life, wherever she lived, Alice was an active member of her community. When her children were young, she volunteered at the summer recreation program at Patton Park and served on the Hamilton-Wenham School Committee. She loved to learn and to lead, and in the mid 70’s attended Bentley College’s continuing education classes on ERISA, a new piece of federal legislation that set minimum standards for retirement plans in the private sector. Realizing the business potential in response to this major change in tax law, Alice went to work for a small pension administration firm in Newton, MA, before starting her own business, Griffin Pension Services, Inc. in 1979. Her company grew very quickly from a desk in her living room to a firm of over 20 employees. As an innovative pioneer in the adoption of 401(k) recordkeeping systems, her company provided a wide range of retirement plan consulting and administration services to hundreds of businesses throughout New England. Alice had an innate ability to surround herself with talented associates who were devoted to her and her leadership style. She became an outspoken champion for small business and joined many local and regional organizations, including the Smaller Business Association of New England (SBANE) and in 1987 became the first woman elected Chairman of the Board; the North Shore Chamber of Commerce serving as its Chairman in 1985; served as a Director of the Holyoke Mutual Insurance Company; 2nd Vice-Chairman of the United Way of the Central North Shore; Trustee of National Small Business United, and was a Director of Beverly National Bank.
Alice was a present, generous, and loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend. All who knew her admired her intelligence, humor, and love of life. After Bob’s death, Alice rediscovered her love for playing Bridge at the Swampscott Senior Center where she made many new and dear friends. She served as trustee and treasurer of her condominium association for many years and helped plan and oversee several major improvements to the building. She enjoyed traveling to Europe, Asia and made her last big trip to South Africa with friends in March of 2015. She was agile, adventurous, and active; qualities that even cancer had trouble stifling over the past 11 months.
Alice leaves behind her daughter, Mary G. Roberts, her husband, Paul, and their daughters, Lily and Cordelia, of Marblehead; son, Robert M. Griffin Jr., his wife, Venus, and their children, Robert and Rachael, of Maryland; and son, John A. Griffin and his daughters, Dakota and Aubrey, of New Jersey; a brother, James A, Britain, and his wife, Judy, of Florida; and brother-in-law Roger L. Griffin and his wife Elaine of Maryland, along with many nieces and nephews as well as all of her dear friends.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, 85 Atlantic Avenue, Marblehead on Tuesday, June 28 at 10AM. Graveside services to follow in Waterside Cemetery, Marblehead. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. Visiting hours will be held at the Eustis and Cornell Funeral Home, 142 Elm Street, Marblehead on Monday, June 27 from 4-8PM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in Alice’s memory to the research on esophageal cancer being done by her oncologist, Dr. Rebecca A. Miksad. Checks may be made payable to BIDMC with a note in the memo”Dr. Miksad Research Fund for Esophageal Cancer” and mailed to: Office of Development, BIDMC, 330 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215.
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