Birth date: Aug 20, 1927 Death date: Mar 27, 2026
William “Dutch” Joseph Griffin Jr. passed away on Friday; March 27, 2026 at the age of 98 1/2. He was born in Mandeville on August 20, 1927. He is survived by his daughter, Jill Farrish (Gibb), and grandson, Griffin Farrish. He Read Obituary
A great man is one who leaves others at a loss when he’s gone, and Dutch was exactly that. He was the foundation of his family and a friend to many. He loved working on his cars and doting on his family. If you saw how much he loved Jill, the way he looked at her told you everything you needed to know about the kind of father he was. She and Griffin were the apples of his eye!
A truly remarkable man who left an indelible mark on everyone he met. He will be deeply missed, but his spirit lives on in his Daughter Jill and Grandson Griffin, he couldn’t be prouder of either one.
I feel so lucky to have known Dutch, He always had a way of making me feel welcome in his home, when Jill and I would saunter in at all hours he always wanted to hear of our “adventures”!
Celebrating a life well-lived and a man well-loved. Dutch was one of a kind, he had such great knowledge of cars and he loved working on them. He was always interested in what kind of sports car I had at the time. He will be dearly missed.
Jill and I were inseparable during the second grade. I am not sure why, but we frequently got suspended from school. Fortunately for us, Jill lived just down the road. Some of my fondest memories are of us walking together to her home to find her Daddy in his garage working on a car. We would get a drink or a popsicle or a sno-cone and sit there and watch him make magic happen with his engines—he never scolded while I was there. Then, when we were ready, we would head over to play in the best, most fabulous playhouse in the world.
At that time, my own Daddy was deployed for the third time to Vietnam. While my grandfather was recently retired from the military and just back from Vietnam himself, it wasn’t quite the same. Dutch didn’t seem to mind having another kid around who might just need a Daddy on occasion, but didn’t know how to ask for that.
I don’t know how often he talked about his own military experience with others. I found that the few times we caught up with each other, he was still very aware of world affairs and how things would affect the average soldier/sailor/airman or marine. He never lost his awareness and curiosity about anything.
He was a bright light in his community and family. He is already missed.
Jill and I were inseparable during the second grade. I am not sure why, but we frequently got suspended from school. Fortunately for us, Jill lived just down the road. Some of my fondest memories are of us walking to her home together to find her Daddy in his garage working on a car. We would get a drink or a popsicle or a sno-cone and watch him—he never scolded while I was there—and sit there and watch him make magic happen with his engines. Then, when we were ready, we would head over to play in the best, most fabulous playhouse in the world.
My own Daddy was deployed for the third time to Vietnam at that time. While my grandfather was recently retired from the military and just back from Vietnam himself, it wasn’t quite the same. Dutch didn’t seem to mind having another kid around who might just need a Daddy on occasion, but didn’t know how to ask for that.
I don’t know how often he talked about his own military experience with others. I found that the few times we caught up with each other, he was still very aware of world affairs and how things would affect them average soldier/sailor/airman or marine. He never lost his awareness and curiosity about anything.
He was a bright light in his community and family. He is already missed.
