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This is what I (Denise Griffin) want to say about my husband, my sweetheart, my best friend, Bob Griffin.

When I met Bob one night in January of 1946 in Pontiac Michigan, he had just been released from the U.S. Navy--the Construction Battalion--or Seabees for short. I was attending a Youth For Christ type meeting with some new friends I had made since moving to Pontiac from Chicago. The friends were all called "the Griffins" because there were so many of them. Six of the Griffin brothers had served in the Armed forces in WWII. They were coming home one at a time. At the meeting, suddenly my new friends all began whispering to one another "Robbie's home, Robbie's home". I looked down to the end of the row and there stood the best-looking sailor I had ever seen (and coming from Chicago, I'd seen a lot.)--Bob Griffin. We met after the service and although he had a girlfriend waiting for him, after we met, neither Bob nor I ever thought of dating anyone else again. He was everything that I was looking for in a man. He loved the Lord, he loved his family, he respected his mother, and he loved children. Returning to our homes at the end of the evening, we rode together on the same bus, and that was the beginning of our courtship.

His first job when he returned, was with the Lincoln auto dealer in Birmingham, MI. He worked there until we were married, January 18, 1947. The only thing I remember about that job is that he drove Lincoln cars a lot. I believe this is the reason for his love of Lincolns--his dream car.

After our wedding we moved to Minneapolis, MN, to attend Northwest Bible School. During that time he worked part time with a company that made flannelgraphs. They were visual aids for telling bible stories to children. It was at that time that Bob began his lifetime career as a part time indoor and outdoor painter, which he did right through his retirement and as long after as his health allowed.

We returned to Pontiac in the summer of 1949. His job then was with the cemetery. He did ground maintenance--mowing, etc.

We moved to Birmingham, MI in 1951. He got a job then with Walker Sign Company, constructing roadside signs and maintenance. This is where the "George" story came from.

Sometime in the 1950s, we moved back to Pontiac, the place and job he had I do not recall. The next place, on Tecumseh Ave., he read meters for an electric company, probably Detroit Edison.

Then we moved to East Strathmore Ave. and he worked for The Pontiac Motor Company. It was during this time that he began driving and delivering for Burton Abstract and Title Company where my dad was the manager. He also cleaned the office on Saturday.

Eventually, he became a full-time employee of Burtons. He was there for over 25 years, where he had many positions. For years he worked at the Oakland County courthouse, microfilming tax information. Microfilming was his big thing, leading to his invention--the lens caddy--for holding several different size lenses for reading microfilm. Later he worked at the main office in Troy, MI. He was a jack-of-all-trades there.

In he retired from there (they downsized). The company became the St. Paul Title Company. After retiring, he painted interior and exterior--many times with his brother Jack or his friend Bob Berry.

When we moved to Middleville in 1982, he put flyers in mailboxes looking for paint jobs. He got one that same day and kept busy a long time by word-of-mouth.

He was a great painter and husband and father and grandpa and great grandpa. He was loved by all.

When I was a teenager, living in Chicago and attending Garfield Baptist Church, one Sunday there was a special speaker by the name of William Riley. He was the founder and president of Northwestern Bible Training School in Minneapolis, Minnesota--now known as University of Northwestern. I was very impressed with his presentation and decided right then that after my graduation from high school that I would attend Northwestern Bible School.

When Bob was in the Navy Sea Bees in WWII, he was stationed in North Africa. While he was there, he and several of his Christian brothers became acquainted with missionaries to North Africa from America. He and his friends spent a lot of their time with these missionaries. At least one of these ladies was a graduate of Northwestern Bible School. Under her influence, Bob made the decision that when he returned home he would attend Northwestern. At that point he thought he would be a missionary. Two of his buddies in the Seabees also went to Northwestern and one of them became a missionary.

When Bob and I met for the first time, as we shared about our lives, we were amazed to discover that we both were planning on going to Northwestern. We went there immediately after our wedding. We were there from January 1947 until spring 1949. While we were there Dr. Riley passed away and Billy Graham became president of Northwestern Bible School.