Maurine was born in Newark, New Jersey, on November 24, 1925, where she lived with her family until she married Clarence E. “Van” Vandergriff in May, 1948. Maurine graduated from Arts High School in 1944 also in Newark. She worked in a variety of jobs in retail until the birth of her first child, Clarence Edward “Ed” Vandergriff, Jr., in May 1949.
Maurine met her husband, Van, while he was attending a VA training facility in Newark after fighting in the pacific. Van was involved in several entrepreneurial businesses focused on coin-operated machines and the Food & Beverage industry. As a result, they moved many times including Wildwood, NJ, Maynardsville, TN, Knoxville, TN (birthplace of Les Vandergriff), Hollywood, FL (birthplace of Rob Vandergriff), Nassau, Bahamas, and ending in a small agricultural town in South Florida, Belle Glade. Van died suddenly in 1964 shortly after moving to Belle Glade.
Maurine worked hard her entire life in several of Van’s businesses and always as a homemaker. In Belle Glade she started an Answering Service to provide phone coverage for small local businesses that still allowed her to care for her family which was always her focus. When her two younger sons started elementary school, Maurine began to work at Belle Glade Elementary School as a teacher’s aide and later as the Assistant Librarian. During this time, she attended night school to earn an AA degree in 1983. She retired from the school system in1986 and moved to Jacksonville to be closer to her family. Not one to be idle, Maurine quickly began working at White’s Bookstore in San Marco where she worked until it closed in 1995 at which time she retired again. Still with no shortage of energy Maurine began to look for places where she could volunteer and chose the YMCA (Yates – Winston) where she had been exercising since her second retirement. While at the Y she checked in members during lunch time where her incredible memory, quick wit and easy smile endeared her to many. Maurine greatly enjoyed interacting with the members and staff which continued until the COVID crisis.
Maurine is preceded in death by her parents Jack and Nellie Westrich; stepfather Sam Trevina; husband, Van Vandergriff; her sisters, Alice Ritter & Launie Urhiq; and her youngest son, Rob Vandergriff. Her legacy lives on through her sons, Ed & Les Vandergriff; four grandchildren, Carson Vandergriff Richardson, Jessica Vandergriff, Austin Vandergriff, & Hailee Vandergriff Williams and ten great-grandchildren, Emerie Vandergriff, Bryson Vandergriff, Hayden Ambrose, Clayton Vandergriff, Everleigh Vandergriff, Levi Vandergriff, Bennett Williams, Gracelynn Williams, Jacob Williams and Hayes Richardson.
A graveside service will be held on Saturday May 15, 2021 at 10:45 AM at Hardage-Giddens Greenlawn Cemetery, 4300 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL (904-396-2522).
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