[Nfbwv-talk] MABEL GRIFFITH OBITUARY

[Charlene Smyth]

Ed, 

Thanks so much for sharing this with us.  Mabel sounds like she was an
amazing woman, especially for a woman during the times in which she lived.
I wish I could have known her.  My prayers and thoughts are with her family
and friends.  

Charlene


-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbwv-talk [mailto:nfbwv-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ed
McDonald via Nfbwv-talk
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 1:48 PM
To: 'nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org' <nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ed McDonald <ed at eioproductions.com>
Subject: [Nfbwv-talk] MABEL GRIFFITH OBITUARY

As many of you know by now, our long-time friend and colleague, Mabel
Griffith, died on Monday. She was a founding member of our affiliate and of
our Wheeling chapter, the Sightless Workers' Guild. She was a pioneer in our
movement and a devoted Federationist. Here is her obituary:


 Mabel Maxine Griffith
 Mabel Minns Griffith, 95, of Wheeling died Monday, September 28, 2015 at
Peterson Hospital. She was born December 14, 1919 in Wheeling, the daughter
of Thomas J. and Elizabeth Minns.

Mabel's strong faith and dedication to her beliefs sustained her throughout
a long life of challenge, reward, and accomplishment. She was a life-long
member of the United Methodist Church and had a distinguished career as
executive director of the Wheeling Area Council of Churches until her
retirement in 1990-a career that began after raising two sons on her own and
caring for her sightless mother.

She was born in 1919 in Wheeling, and spent her first 25 years as a popular
fixture in her father's many small confectionaries in South and Center
Wheeling where she made many friends, participated in the daily life of a
bustling city, helped lift the spirits of her neighbors and customers, and
assisted her parents through the Great Depression, World War II, and the
everyday challenges of being sightless.

Mabel graduated from Wheeling High School in 1938 and met her husband,
George W. Griffith, in one of her father's little confectionaries when she
was 15. They married while he was on leave from the U.S. Army in April 1944.
By 1954, her father, Tom, and George had passed away, leaving Mabel to raise
her two sons with the help of her industrious and multitalented mother,
Lizzie. She learned to drive, manage a small family business, keep her
children happy, and remained involved in her church. She was active in the
West Virginia Federation of the Blind and its Wheeling Chapter, the
Sightless Workers Guild, where she provided volunteer logistics support,
fund raising assistance, and transportation services to scores of blind
people throughout the state.

When her sons were grown and her mother passed away after a long illness,
Mabel went to work at the Council of Churches in 1974. For the next 16
years, she managed the Council's office and its many activities from Oglebay
Vespers services and the popular School of Religion to Hymn Sing in the
Park, early morning televised devotionals, newsletter publication and dozens
of other tasks devoted to advancing the vision of uniting churches
throughout the Wheeling area for service and worship.

Retirement brought travel for Mabel and she visited the Holy Lands, Ireland,
and the British Isles and cruised oceans with a loyal band of close friends.
It also brought more time to devote to leadership positions in two Wheeling
Churches-Fourth Street United Methodist Church and Christ United Methodist
Church where she transferred in 1996. Experienced in the art of crochet
work, she crafted more than 100 lap blankets well into her 90s for
Appalachian charities, often from donated scraps of yarn. She was a
long-time member of the Wheeling Child Study Club and Church Women United
and was an original associate member of the Sightless Workers Guild, a
chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.

She leaves a legacy of faith, a love of her church, a tradition of service,
and an unwavering dedication to her family. 

"Grieve for me just a little because you miss me," she wrote in a letter
left for her family and friends. "Then pick up your tasks and move along
remembering someday we will be together again in God's house to spend
eternity together. Life has been good to me even though the path has been
rough sometimes. Continue to do God's work in your time ahead because that's
what happiness is made of."

She is survived by her sons, Terrill (Terry) Griffith of Pittsburgh and his
wife, Janice Allen Griffith and Gerrill (Gerry) Griffith and his wife Cindy
Carpenter Griffith of Washington, PA; three grandsons, Damon Griffith and
his wife Sabrina of Santa Fe, NM, Conor Griffith of Morgantown, WV, and
Travis Norris and his wife Megan of San Diego, CA; and three
great-grandchildren, Grannia Griffith of Oregon and Olivia and Isaac of San
Diego.

Visitation will be at Christ United Methodist Church in Wheeling on
Wednesday September 30, 2015 from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM, where services will
be held on Thursday October 1, 2015 at 10:30 AM with Pastor Judy Liston and
Reverend Margie Carr officiating. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery
in Wheeling. Arrangements by Kepner Funeral Home, 166 Kruger Street,
Wheeling, WV (304-242-2311). In lieu of flowers, the family requests that
memorial donations be made to either Christ United Methodist Church,1232
National Rd, Wheeling, WV 26003 or the Sightless Workers Guild, c/o Jack
Yahnke, President, and PO BOX 6073, Wheeling, WV 26003.