James W. Griffin, 88, was called to his heavenly home on February 10, 2024.  He was born on September 26, 1935 in Tiffin, Ohio to

James W. Griffin

Willard and Adeline {Plentz} Griffin. He served as a paratrooper in the US Army after graduating from Columbia High School in 1953. He married Jessie de Jonge in 1955, and they were together until Jessie passed in 2011. 

  He led a long and illustrious life, beginning in Tiffin, OH as a patrolman for that city’s police force, and moving eventually first to Cucamonga, CA, and then to Upland, CA where he joined the police force there, eventually joining the fire dept, where he became a captain.  He simultaneously went to school at Chaffey College in Alta Loma, CA to study fire science, and eventually became a teacher in that realm. He moved to Cambria, CA and was a fire chief there until he retired in 1990. 

 In Upland he was also a Little League and Pony League coach, an amateur pilot, and a good father and grandfather to his children and grandchildren, and a good  friend to  all who knew him. 

He moved to Mesquite in 1991, and managed AM\PM, became a dispatcher for the City of Mesquite, worked as a golf marshal at the Palms, then security at Player’s Island, and finally surveillance at the Eureka Hotel and Casino  before he retired for the last time. He was also a member of Knights of Columbus, and a member of La Virgen de Guadalupe Catholic Church. 

He leaves behind his six children, Amy {Rod} Marshall, Michael {Melody} Griffin, Matthew {Mindy} Griffin, Edward {Janet} Griffin, Suzanne {Chris} Crothers, and Adam {Cindy} Griffin, along with 17 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great-grandchildren. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, and his wife, Jessie Carol {de Jonge} Griffin. 

A special thank you to Beehive Homes for all that they did for him, Amanda and Harvey and all the aides, and Hospice Nurse Amy. 

At this time the family is planning a private memorial, and asks for donations in memory of James W Griffin to the Dementia Society of America online to www.DementiaSociety.org/donate