Robert K. Griffin

University Teacher And Administrator,     Founded Problem Ease

Robert K. Griffin, 83, of Fairfield died May 24 at Bridgeport Hospital. He was born March 11, 1923, to William M. and May Palmer Griffin.

 He leaves behind his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth Musante Griffin; five children, Jean Griffin Walter and her husband, Dale, of Newtown, Robert K. Griffin, Jr, and his wife, Carla, of East Haven, Thomas W. Griffin of Charlotte, N.C., Beth Griffin Williams and her husband, Dave, of Bethel, and David J. Griffin and his wife, Sherie, of Baker, Mont.; grandchildren, Ryan Griffin, Shaina and Steven Reynolds, Zoe and Grace Walter, Ashley, Kelly, and Thomas “TJ” Griffin, Nichole Allen Primavera, Breanne Allen, Christopher W.R. Allen, Davey and Shaun Williams, and Justin M. Griffin; four step-grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. He also leaves six nephews and seven nieces. His brother, William F. Griffin, predeceased Mr Griffin.

Mr Griffin was a 1940 graduate of Harding High School, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Vermont. He was a veteran of World War II ,serving in the US Navy as a navigator and communication officer in the Pacific Theater. He taught at St Michael’s College, Winooski, Vt., and the University of Vermont. He also coached football and basketball at Cathedral High School in Burlington, Vt.

From 1952 to 1959, he served as the administrator of the Connecticut State Building Trades Welfare and Insurance Funds. In 1959, he founded the Administrative Services Company and in 1963 merged it with the Mass Insurance Consultants and Administrators, Inc of Chicago. Also in 1963, he was named placement director at Fairfield University and in 1966 he was the first layman to be named Dean of Students. In the fall of 1969, he was named Dean of Administration at Housatonic Community College. He returned to Fairfield University in 1974 as Dean of Admissions and Registrar of the Graduate School of Education. In 1985 he founded Problem Ease, a divorce mediation company. He retired in 1988.

Friends are invited to attend the funeral on Saturday, May 27, at 10 am, at St Thomas Aquinas Church, 1719 Post Road, Fairfield, for a Mass of Christian Burial. Interment will be in Oaklawn Cemetery in Fairfield. Friends may call at the Shaughnessey-Banks Funeral Home, 50 Reef Road, Fairfield on Friday, May 26, from 4 to 8 pm.

It would be appreciated if donations be made in his memory to Alzheimer’s Association, Fairfield County Chapter, 607 Main Street, Norwalk, CT 06851.

The Newtown Bee        May 26, 2006