Arthur Morse Griffin

December 12, 1939 – December 22, 2024

Art was born the second of two sons to Roseanne Gore Griffin and Edwin Hugh Griffin, in Winthrop, Massachussetts. He grew up in Winthrop and Concord, New Hampshire, where he graduated from Concord High School. He obtained a Bachelor of Science from the University of New Hampshire, and was an enthusiastic member of Sigma Beta Fraternity, an interest he maintained for the rest of his life. He was a USAF recruit while in university, who ultimately achieved the rank of Major. He had postings in Alaska, Idaho, Germany, the Faroe Islands, and flew on the SAC Airborne Command post for over 4000 hours. He and his first wife, Lynn Claybaugh (Greer), had two natural daughters, Laura Lynne and Amy Elizabeth, and adopted a Vietnamese son, Timothy Andrew. After he and Lynne divorced, he obtained a master’s degree and retired from the Air Force in California. Quickly adapting to California life, he lived in Lakewood and later in Long Beach, while working as a senior technical writer for various corporate and government organizations. Socially, he joined Auslich Ski Club as an avid skier, a sport he had enjoyed in New England and Europe. In 1998, he met Annie Griffin of Victoria, Canada, online; the couple married in 1999, and lived in four different states before moving to Toronto, Canada, in 2022.

Art was a lively, cheerful, generous, kind man with a pithy sense of humour that still emerged during his final illness. He was a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, who wept when the Curse of the Bambino was finally broken with the Red Sox’s World Series win in 2005. He loved skiing, which he described as “the most fun you can have with your pants on.” He had an impressive tee-shirt collection, a classic baseball card collection, and a large collection of signed first edition books. He showed Old English Sheepdogs, which he loved immensely. In 2012, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which had also afflicted his father. Despite the increasing limitations the disease imposed on him, he seldom complained, and did his best to enjoy life. In 2022, he and Annie moved to Canada to be closer to her family. He is survived by his wife, Annie Griffin; his children, Laura Lynn Cohn (Louie Cohn Jr), Amy Elizabeth Griffin, Timothy Andrew Griffin; his step-children, Melinda Joy Deines (Michael Piper,) Catherine Michelle Deines (John Murphy,) Rachel Nicole Deines; his grandchildren, Taylor Aylene Carpenter, Thomas Andrew Carpenter (Vanessa DoMar), Louis Cohn III, Rayla Joy Deines, Cesar Santiago Franco, and one great-grandchild, Sofia Aurora Carpenter-DoMar. He was well-loved. He was predeceased by his parents, and brother Hank Griffin. Sincere thanks to the incredible staff at Michael Garron Hospital for their kind and skilled care.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to any of these organizations: Parkinsons Canada, American Parkinson’s Disease Association, the Michael J Fox Foundation, or Michael Garron Hospital.