- Date Of Birth: August 10, 1930
- Date Of Death: April 30, 2017
- State: Maryland
On April 30, 2017, REGINALD W. GRIFFITH, beloved husband of M. Linden Griffith (nee James), devoted father of Crystal Arnette Griffith (HLT Quan), Cyrice Lynnette Griffith, and the late Courtney Vance Griffith. Adoring grandfather of Kelvin A. Smith, Langston A. Griffith Siebens, and Akil Richardson. Also survived by Sarah Selby (widow of Courtney Griffith), cousin Albert Griffith (Kate), and many extended family and friends. Predeceased by his beloved mother Iris Lolita Griffith, sister Gloria Gaston, and father Wilbert Griffith.
Alpha Phi Alpha, MAAC Foundation, P.O. Box 336, Clinton, MD 20735 Georgetown Day School Diversity Office (57-548), 4200 Davenport Street NW, Washington D.C. 20016 Efik National Association Inc. USA, 9755 South Kirkwood Road, Suite-D, Houston TX 77099 Southern Poverty Law Center
Reflections on the life of Reginald Wilbert Griffith
August 10, 1930 to April 30, 2017
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
a”Khalil Gibran, The Prophet
Reginald W. Griffith was born on a Sunday in Harlem during the Great Depression, three years after his sister, Gloria. His parents, Iris Lolita and Wilbert William emigrated from Panama. His mother was a dancer and singer who worked the assembly line at Pfizer’s Pharmaceuticals and tended to her children’s dreams.
“There was just an immense amount of love between the three of us… .[but] I remember my mother being worried that [Gloria and I] didn’t have enough to eat.” He recalls fainting at church and the doctor telling his mother that he was malnourished. “When I was in junior high school, my mother mentioned to me that she hoped she had done the right thing by saying no to one of my teachers… I think her name was Mrs. Polikoff… in elementary school who wanted to adopt me.”
a”Excerpt from an oral history interview by Clarence G. Williams, author of Technology and the Dream: Reflections on the Black Experience at MIT, 1941-1999
Reg graduated first in his class from Brooklyn Technical High School but never expected he would go to college. When the honor of valedictorian was not bestowed upon him because of bigotry, he was nonplussed. Graduating high school, taking night classes at Pratt Institute and helping his mother and sister with bills took precedence. One of his jobs was working at a five and dime store as a stock boy for W.T. Grant Company on 125th Street. After his industrial design training in high school, he was promoted to assistant window dresser. Encouraged by his mother who told him to “start at the top,” he applied for jobs at the top industrial design firms. The top firm wouldn’t let him in the doora”it was 1949 and they noted that he was Black. Henry Dreyfuss’ industrial design firm was the second largest in the world. They noted his talent but didn’t have an opening. When they did, it was for an office boy and it paid less than his job at the dime storea”a job that helped pay for his sister Gloria’s classes at nursing school and his classes at Pratt Institute. His mother and sister thought the opportunity was worth their collective struggles.
On Sunday April 30, 2017, three years, two months and two days after losing his son to cancer, one hundred and two days shy of his eighty-seventh birthday, and forty-two days short of his fifty-sixth wedding anniversary, Reginald W. Griffith completed his time on this earth. He was humbled and grateful for his journey in this life. A first-generation American; son, brother, cousin, devoted husband and father; student, employee, mentee, mentor, college roommate, classmate, friend and colleague; uncle, grandfather, brother/father-in-lawa”he was blessed beyond measure. With utmost respect for the Creator, Reg came full circle… “for life and death are one.”
Thursday, May 11, 2017, 09:00 am – 10:00 am
St. John’s Catholic Church Wilde Lake
10431 Twin Rivers Rd. Columbia MD, 21044
Thursday, May 11, 2017, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
St. John’s Catholic Church Wilde Lake
10431 Twin Rivers Rd. Columbia MD, 21044
