Necrology

Dayton “Griff” Robert Griffith, Jr. '55

Mar. 13, 1933-Oct. 10, 2023

Dayton Robert “Griff” Griffith, Jr. ’55 died on Oct. 10, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Born in Dolgeville, N.Y., on March 13, 1933, he came to Hamilton from Dolgeville Central High School. On the Hill, he was a member of the Emerson Literary Society and majored in art. 

Griff’s career at Hamilton was interrupted by service in the U.S. Air Force. Withdrawing at the end of the first semester of his sophomore year, he was stationed for two years in Germany and one in Thailand. Returning to the College for the fall semester of 1957, he completed his degree in the spring of 1960. Even so, he maintained his affiliation with the Class of 1955.

Mary L. Robertson had been Griff’s friend since childhood, and on June 7, 1959, they were married in Franklin, Ind. An alumna of Franklin College and Indiana University, she was at the time of their marriage employed by Procter & Gamble. They had a son and two daughters.

Granted permission to take his final examinations early in order to begin Officer Candidate School in the middle of May 1960, Griff returned to the Air Force to begin a career that didn’t end until August 1977. His assignments were first with the Air Defense Command and then with the Strategic Air Command. In the course of his service, he flew more than 3,600 hours as a radar navigator on board B-52 bombers, mostly stationed out of Kincheloe Air Force Base located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 

By the time he retired from the Air Force with the rank of captain, Griff had acquitted himself honorably. Among the commendations he was awarded for his service were the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, and Outstanding Unit Citation.

Preparing for a second career, Griff completed a master of arts degree in guidance and counseling at Central Michigan University in 1976.

The Griffiths did not move from the Upper Peninsula after he left the Air Force. Instead, he started work as a corrections officer at the Kinross Correctional Facility, which had been constructed on land previously occupied by the Kincheloe Air Force Base before its closure in 1977. Griff and Mary resided in the nearby town of Rudyard.

After he retired from the prison system in 1988, the couple spent time on the shore of Lake Huron, traveled, and, as Griff reported in his 40th reunion yearbook, were “busy doing much that we put off while working for a living.” They also began to divide their time between Northern Michigan and Port Orange, Fla., near Daytona Beach, which later became their permanent home. In 2016, Griff and Mary moved into a retirement community in Holly Hill, also near Daytona Beach.

Griff’s perspective on his years at Hamilton was clearly influenced by the disruption caused by his first period of military service. As he noted in his 40th reunion yearbook: “What a shock it was to return to the Hill in September 1957, to face the increased academic abilities of my younger classmates. At that moment, I realized it was going to be ‘work hard’ or forget it. No more fun and games.” A further recollection makes clear the extent to which he felt challenged: “I recall finally getting a term paper completed for Paul Parker and his comment: ‘They said it couldn’t be done!’”

Dayton R. Griffith, Jr. was predeceased by his father, Dayton R. Griffith, Class of 1922. He is survived by his wife, son, two daughters, nine grandchildren, and seven great- grandchildren.

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