Edward "Ed or Griff" Francis

Griffin

September 22, 1928

July 31, 2021

Edward F. Griffin, beloved son, brother, uncle, husband, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend passed away on July 31, 2021, at the age of 92. He is sorely missed. Known to many as Ed or Griff, his most recent residences were in Wimauma, FL; Colorado Springs, CO; and Lompoc, CA. He was born September 22, 1928, in Springfield, MA, to John and Helen (Kenney) Griffin. He joined the Air Force in 1951 and was assigned to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany. It was here that he met and married his German sweetheart, Inge R. Keller, on March 1, 1952. They had five children: Margaret "Peggy" (deceased), Terry Griffin Dickinson (Thomas), Deborah Griffin, Francis (deceased), and Ed Jr. Ed and Inge enjoyed 28 years together, before her untimely death June 6, 1980. Ed was proud of his 26-year Air Force career (retired as a MSgt in 1976) and 22-year career as a government civil servant (retired as a GS-13 from Vandenberg AFB in 2000, earning the Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award). After losing his beloved wife, he later met and married Susanna Hayes Griffin (deceased) in 1992, and they were together for 26 years. Ed was a man of lifelong faith, born and raised Catholic. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was intellectually curious, a perpetual learner, a newshound, and a keen political observer. Ed was predeceased by the aforementioned and his brothers, Jackie and Billy, and sister, Mary Ellen Gilbert. He is survived by his children, his former daughter-in-law, Carolee Griffin, his grandchildren, Tess Dickinson Capps (John), Matt Griffin, David Griffin, Kellie Griffin Gleaton (Cody), and his great-grandaughters, Alyssa Capps and April Griffin. He is also survived by beloved family in his home state of Massachusetts. Ed is interred at Ft. Logan National Cemetary, Denver, CO, and rests with his Inge. A memorial service will be held September 25 at Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Lompoc, CA. Arrangements are by Starbuck-Lind Mortuary, Lompoc, CA.

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Published by The Gazette from Aug. 31 to Sep. 5, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for Edward Griffin

3 Entries

Walt Aufderheide

September 10, 2021

To The Griffin Family, My sincere condolences on the passing of Ed. Not sure if I have the correct family or not. If not, please accept my apologies and please accept my condolences in any case. If I have the correct family, I coached Ed Jr. at Liberty High School in Colorado Springs on the hockey team and then enjoyed coaching with Ed after he graduated from LHS. Ed, my sincere condolences on the passing of Edward. I enjoyed sharing experiences both when you were a player and then when you helped coach the Lancers. I have thought of you frequently throughout the years, especially when we won the state title in '01 and I was able to reflect on so many important people like you who were key in helping us develop a winning culture, culminating with our state championship. It belonged to people like you just as much as players and coaches from the team in '01. We never get that opportunity without the contributions of people like you Ed so my sincere thank you for that. I fondly remember your senior year, my first year as head coachand that team won several games through sheer will of people like you, Matt Ames, Scott Astley, Brandon Smith and so many more. That team was easily one of my favorites throughout my 20+ years behind the bench. Just a great group of young men and ladies. Anyway, just wanted to tell you thanks for all you did for me and for Liberty and to pass my sincere condolences along to you and your family. My best wishes for peace and healing. May God bring you smiles from happy memories to replace your tears of sorrow. God bless to you and your family, Ed.
Sincerely, Walt Aufderheide

Steve Young

September 1, 2021

The Buckley SFB military Retiree Activities Office (RAO) would like to offer our sincere condolences and our gratitude for MSgt Griffin's 26 years of distinguished service to our country in the Air Force. If you would like help with any matters related to casualty assistance, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), Veterans Affairs (VA), etc. you can contact our office on Buckley SFB at 720-847-6693. The RAO is staffed by volunteers, all military retirees themselves, and our sole purpose is to provide assistance to any military retirees and surviving spouses/family members with anything related to their military service and/or benefits, in particular during difficult times such as this. We are deeply sorry for your loss.

Steve Young
Lt Col, USAF, Ret
Director, Buckley SFB RAO

Kathy Crowley (Griffin)

August 27, 2021

Terry, the Crowley Family of Norwood, MA sends its deepest condolences on the passing of our beloved “Uncle Eddie.” Uncle Eddie visited us many times, and your beautiful obituary brought back so many beautiful memories for us.

We have 2 favorite memories of Uncle Eddie that we would like to share. The first was when Uncle Eddie helped our oldest child, Brendan, with his 6th grade project related to the Air Force. Uncle Eddie put together an amazing assortment of resources that Brendan enjoyed weaving into his project. This was just another example of the amazing person that Uncle Eddie was.

Perhaps our greatest memory of Uncle Eddie was when he came to MA to see our dad shortly before he passed. We all felt a tremendous peace when Uncle Eddie arrived, and we are most grateful to him for helping us through that incredibly difficult time.

With lots of love from the Crowley Family of Norwood, MA—Mike, Kathy (Griffin), Brendan, Ashley, Erin and Ryan.❤❤

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