Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 15, Number 6 • Spring 2007
A Fond Goodbye to Don Griffin,
Friends of the River Co-founder
Adapted from an article by Cristen Kis originally published in the
Press & Guide Newspapers on December 3, 2006 in Dearborn, MI.
On November 23rd, 2006 the
Great Lakes community
unexpectedly bid farewell to
lifelong education and
environmental advocate, Don
Griffin.
After serving in the U.S. Army in
Germany in the Counter
Intelligence Corps, Griffin
began a career in education and
taught at schools in Flint and at
Lincoln Consolidated Schools.
He received his teaching degree
from Central Michigan
University and a master's
degree in child development from the
University of Michigan. Griffin served as
an elementary education consultant for
Wayne County Regional Educational
Service Agency for 33 years where one of
his greatest accomplishments was
expanding Head Start from a summer
session to an all day program during the
school year.
Griffin was also instrumental in founding
the two Detroit area non-profits:
Friends of the Rouge River in 1986 and
Friends of Detroit River in 1992.
“Don was very committed to making a
difference, particularly with the Detroit
River and the Great Lakes in general,”
said David Howell, board chairman for
the Friends of the Detroit River. “He was
always thinking of ways to make things
better.”
Griffin even joined forces with U.S.
Congressman John Dingell to protect the
Detroit River’s Humbug Marsh from
development. He also went to battle over
the potential reopening of a landfill not
far from the river in Gibraltar.
Throughout his lifetime Griffin was
presented with numerous awards – too
many to count – but the two most recent
awards were especially treasured by him.
The 2005 Grassroots Citizen-Advocate
Award from GLAHNF and the Petoskey
Prize given in September, 2006. The
latter, presented by the Michigan
Environmental Council, recognizes
citizen activists whose outstanding
grassroots environmental leadership is
marked by commitment, creativity and
courage.
Griffin’s love for the rivers and lakes
extended to include other outdoor activities
such as hunting and fishing. He
adored his three children, Randall
(Gianina), Donna and Laura (Randy), 10
grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
He loved to invent games with
them, his wife said. “If I had talked to
everyone, I would have said he was a
good grandfather. He was very special to
me and I’ll bet was very special to everyone
in this room,” said Alexander,
Griffin’s 8-year-old grandchild, to a roomful
of family members after the funeral
dinner.
Don Griffin’s family, friends and colleagues
will miss many things about him
— including his closing line on the telephone.
“Goodbye for now,” he would
always say.
And they’ve said goodbye – for now –
with a celebration of his full, passionate
and devoted life. Exactly as he would
have wanted it.
|
