Maurine Miller Griffing, 103, of Palestine and formerly of Beaumont, passed away peacefully Saturday, August 30, 2014. She was born on January 28, 1911, in Beaumont, to Nora and Cecil Miller.
Maurine married Ralph C. Griffing in 1931. Together they happily owned and operated Griffing Nurseries until his death in 1968. She had graduated from Beaumont schools. By the age of fifteen, she was a concert pianist and attended Montezuma Baptist College in New Mexico, and from 1927 to 1930 she attended South Park Junior College and Chenier’s Business School in Beaumont.
Serving in her Voth-Rosedale community was her greatest pleasure. She was devoted to her church family at Rosedale Baptist Church where she took special interest in young people. She lived in her home on the nursery for seventy-three years until moving to Palestine in 2004 to live with her close friend Darlene Julian. There she was a member of Southside Baptist Church.
Survivors include her daughter, Gloria Graham and her husband, Allan; nine grandchildren with their families, Jess Graham, Jordan Jones, Julia Jones, Brian Jones, Will Jones, Nana Smith, Michael Smith, Ethan Smith, and Caleb Smith; seventeen great-grandchildren, Brock, Dustin, Marilla, Tegan, Kylah, Amelia, Miranda, Bennet, Caleb, Anna, Nicolas Smith, Lucas, Pascual, Ana, Levi, Hazel, and Nicolas Graham; and two great-great grandchildren, Porter and Emma.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Nora and Cecil Miller; husband, Ralph C. Griffing; and her daughters, Gay Jones and Sherry Smith Hatch.
A gathering of Mrs. Griffing’s family and friends will be 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Friday, September 12, 2014, at Broussard’s, 1650 North Major Drive, Beaumont. Her funeral service will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, September 13, 2014, at Rosedale Baptist Church, 7110 Concord Road, Beaumont, with interment to follow at Magnolia Cemetery, Beaumont, under the direction of Broussard's.
