Charles Griffith Obituary

October 20, 1923 - March 28, 2008. Charles E. "Ned" Griffith, Washington DC native, died at his home in Silver Spring at the age of 84. At the time of his death he was the oldest active employee of Pepco. He worked there for 57 years. His last position was as an engineering consultant and the unofficial company historian. He knew all about how Pepco built the DC electricity infrastructure, why they did what they did, and when they did it. He never considered retiring, he liked the work and the people he worked with too much to stop. He was a Registered Professional Engineer in the District of Columbia and he held three patents for inventions that improve electricity reliability and safety. The first patent was for the "Griffith Switch", which was a protective device designed to interrupt high voltage power. He grew up on Harrison St, NW, in the home of his grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Ward Wilson Griffith I, founder of Griffith Consumers Oil Company. After serving in the US Navy in WWII, he graduated from the University of Maryland School of Engineering in 1950. He married the late Betty Zane Morrison, in 1951, and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001. They had seven children, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is survived by his children, Maureen Whittenburg of Detroit Michigan, Roxana Hegarty and son-in-law Allen Hegarty of Germantown, Md., Betsy Wilson of Frederick, MD, Tracy Simmons and son-in-law Dave Simmons of Germantown, Md. and son David Griffith and daughter-in-law Jill Griffith of Cape May, NJ. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Taryn Sylvia of Baltimore, MD, Kristine Wilson and Timothy Wilson of Frederick, MD, David and Brian Simmons of Germantown, MD, Kyle and Kemper Whittenburg of Detroit, MI, Christopher Griffith of Cape May, NJ and great granddaughter Kiana Scott of Frederick, MD. He will be remembered at a memorial service at Ft. Myer Chapel, Arlington Cemetary where he will join his wife, Betty Zane on May 13 at 2:30 PM.