With a smile on her face and a story or two to share, Marie Griffin of Boulder City is ready to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Born Sept. 21, 1915, in Philomath, Ore., not to far from Corvallis, she was the second of Ray and Agnes Congdon’s four children. They had a 144-acre farm where they raised oats and clover, as well as numerous animals including Holstein and Jersey cows.
After graduating from high school, she attended Oregon State University for a while and then joined the U.S. Navy as a WAVE in October 1943 during World War II. Most of that time, she said she was stationed in Georgia at a base not too far from Jacksonville, Fla.
Griffin said she spent two years and two months in the Navy and then returned home to Oregon. She spent a year working for a family helping with their children, and then used her G.I. Bill to return to college.
It was while studying at the university that she met her future husband, Howard Griffin. They were married Sept. 10, 1950.
She taught first and second grade for a short time, while Griffin obtained a job with the Bureau of Mines in Albany, Ore.
They were there for 20 years before they moved to Boulder City in 1973, where he continued to work for the Bureau of Mines.
Griffin said that although she loved teaching — as well as learning — she chose not to return to the classroom because of the regulations involved with moving her teaching license. Instead, she said she helped gather stories for the Boulder City News.
Howard Griffin died in July 2009. They had no children, but Marie Griffin dotes on her late husband’s cat, Kitty Kat.
She said she enjoys reading and learning new things but has no secrets to share about living a long life.
A party will be held in Griffin’s honor in the social hall adjacent to Bethany Baptist Church, where she has been a member for many years.
Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.