William Bernard Griffin

William Bernard Griffin, passed away on Jan. 2, 2012. He was born May 9, 1930 in Springfield, MA to the late Francis and Ethel Griffin. He is survived by Dolores, his lovely wife of 49 years, and three wonderful sons and their families: Joseph (Thipagorn), and grandchildren, Charlotte & Sean, of Plano, TX; James (MaryAnn) and granddaughters Claire and Abigail, of Winston-Salem, NC, and William (Carolyn) and grandchildren, Winston and Anna of Eden, NC. He leaves one sister, Kathleen Ouellette, of Boston, MA and brother, Dr. John Griffin (Janice), of Longmeadow, MA. He graduated from Cathedral High School, class of '48, and attended Western New England College. While in the US Air Force during the Korean conflict, he was awarded a Commendation Ribbon, the United Nations Service Medal, Good Conduct Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation and the National Defense Service Medal. After his Honorable discharge in 1955, he was employed by Western Electric Co. Initially, he worked with the US Army as a technical advisor on the NIKE anti-aircraft missile systems that were deployed around many of the major US cities. He later assisted US military advisory units assigned to provide support for the Nationalist Chinese Army on Taiwan during the tense years beginning in the late fifties and through the sixties. During this period, he was awarded the Chinese Army Service emblem on behalf of General Kao Kuei-yuan, Commander in Chief, Nationalist Chinese Army. After his return to the US, he worked with two specialized teams; developing a guidance unit used with Titan 3C Missiles, and the SAFEGUARD project, an anti-missile system. His latter years of employment included assignments in N. Andover, MA and Winston-Salem, NC. He also participated in the development of AMPS, the early mobile phone system at Bell Labs in NJ. He retired in 1991. He was proactive in local sports and school activities while living in Londonderry NH. He coached little league baseball and flag football while supporting the creation of both a Pop Warner midget football team and a new Londonderry High School football team. Bill was elected to the Londonderry High School hall of fame in 1987. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at St. Leo's Catholic church on Friday, January 6th at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Catholic Social Services, 627 W. 2nd St. W-S, NC 27101

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