Obituary of Ann Griffin

Ann Simmons Griffin passed away after a long illness. She was born in Chester, South Carolina in 1932. She attended Greenville High School after a move to the Upstate with her family, and graduated with the Class of 1952. She loved singing and was active in all chorus activities while in high school. She also enjoyed singing in the church choir at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Mauldin for almost 20 years. Ann attended Brenau College in Gainesville Georgia to study fashion, but found that her true calling was to be a mother and a wife. She returned home after one year of college to marry her husband, Dallas W. Griffin, Sr. of Mauldin. They enjoyed a long and productive marriage that resulted in the gift of four children, three grandchildren and a fairly new great-grandchild. Our mother was the quintessential Southern lady who treated everyone she met with kindness and grace. She was at the helm of a busy household full of children, their friends and countless dogs, cats, guinea pigs, horses, ponies and the menagerie of wildlife that inhabited the woods and fields of our home. And yet somehow the house was always clean and organized with everyone clean (usually), fed (always), and where they were supposed to be (mostly) on time. Then, there was Dad, who could be counted amongst the children and creatures with almost equal measure. She instilled in her children and grandchildren a sense of fairness, compassion, respect and joy; and she made sure that those around her knew they were loved. We had a really great mom. Ann was a hero to all creatures, great and small with a particular penchant for cats and dogs. Our dad started a list of all the dogs and cats that we had had since he and Mom married. They stopped at fifty and that didn’t count the horses, the goat, the guinea pig or the snakes and creepy crawly things Jim and Dallas would bring in from the woods. Nor did it count the homeless animals that she fed in the lot beside Harrisons’ Carhart or elsewhere nearby. It didn’t count the lost ones that she took in and fostered either. But then she really wasn’t very good at the fostering part. The fosters would find they had a home with us if she couldn’t find where they belonged. They would belong with us. Ann is predeceased by her husband, Dallas W. Griffin, Sr., her brother Larry L. Simmons and her youngest child Christopher M. Griffin, Sr. She is also predeceased by her father James Wilbur Simmons, her mother Elizabeth (Buff) Simmons, her beloved uncles Bill and Allen Gaines as well as her doting aunts Lillian and Francis. She is survived by her children James, Dallas, and Lisa. She will be missed by her grandchildren Christopher Griffin II (Ellen), Grant, and Grace Ann Griffin. The Lord allowed her enough time to see her first great-grandchild Magnolia Sue Griffin. “Noli” is the daughter of Christopher II and Ellen, and was a source of a particular joy in Ann’s final days. Services for our mother are as follows: A Public Viewing will be from 10am-5pm Friday, September 2nd at Fletcher Funeral Service, Fountain Inn, SC. A Celebration of Ann’s Life will be held at 10am Saturday, September 3rd in the mausoleum chapel of Graceland East Memorial Park, 2206 Woodruff Road, Simpsonville, SC 29681. Flowers are appreciated as she and my father were avid gardeners. Donations may also be made to Meals on Wheels or Foster Paws Rescue at PO Box 45 Lyman, SC 29365 or via PayPal at: fosterpaws.org using the friends and family option to avoid fees.