Lendon Griffin Obituary (1918 - 2010)

1918- 2010, Lendon Harvey Griffin 91, Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather and Brother passed away peacefully of natural causes in Cedar City, UT on July, 28, 2010. Lendon was born on August 12, 1918 in New York, New York. He was orphaned at the age of 3 with the unexpected death of his parents due to tuberculosis outbreak. He had a very difficult time growing up as a orphan and at age 18 he left the orphanage and foster care system of New York and moved to California to work in the movie industry building movie sets. He was drafted in 1942, served in Infantry and participated in several World War II battles including the Battle of the Bulge. His Company was part of a unit that went ahead of the main troops sweeping for mines. He was always proud of his Army service and in later years would wear his uniform every chance he got.He married Kathryn Joyce Keene in Huntington Park, CA on August 16, 1946. In April 17, 1958 they were sealed in the Los Angeles Temple.After the War he returned to California and went to work in the Newspaper industry, working for Rogers and Mc Donald Publishers in Los Angeles. He was the Production Manager where he worked for 30 years. Upon retirement he moved from Downey, CA to Orange County, City of Orange. He got a part time job working for Disneyland as a Train Conductor. He absolutely loved working at Disneyland and would go to work a couple hours early to watch Disney cartoons, visit with other Staff Members, and Park Visitors. When he moved to Cedar City he would go to Walmart and greet City residents as they entered Walmart.Lendon is the loving Father of 4 Children Bruce Lendon Griffin- (deceased), Jane Lee Sherman (Chris)- Lancaster, CA , Nancy Lynn Goldthrope (Charles)- Cedar City, UT, Honorable Judge Craig Loma Griffin (Susan)- Yorba Linda, CA. He has 16 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren with 4 on the way. Lendon loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and lived his missed childhood through them.Lendon was baptized on March 3, 1957 and was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Cedar City 16th Ward. He served in many church capacities including; Cub Scout den leader, Sunday school presidency, High Priest Group leadership and stake missionary.He was loved by many and will be missed by all.Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 1:00 pm at the Cedar City 16th LDS Ward Chapel located at 320 S. 1925 W., in Cedar City, Utah. A viewing will be held prior to the service at the Church from 11:30-12:30 pm. Interment will be in the Cedar City Cemetery all under the direction of Southern Utah Mortuary.