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Service:
Green Valley Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday,
November 13, 2022
Funeral home:
Peasley Funeral Home, Lincoln
Obituary
Phyllis J. Griffin, 87, of Lincoln,
passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2022, at 8:46 a.m.
at her home.
Graveside services will be at the Green Valley
Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 13, 2022.
Rev. Steve Blaum will officiate. Cremation Rites
have been accorded.
Born to Leslie J. and Melvina E. Suiter Leeds on May
18, 1935, in Green Valley, she was united in
marriage to Harold “Hal” L. Griffin. He preceded her
in death May 4, 2020.
Phyllis is survived by her daughter, Janine (Mike)
Furman of Waynesville; and seven grandchildren: Kyle
(Chelsea), Corrisa (Chip), and Kelsea Ann (John),
all of Minnesota; Christopher (Callie) of
Waynesville, Westley (Brooklyn) of Atlanta, Robert (Kaitlyn)
of Waterloo, and Jesse (Hannah) of Waynesville. She
is also survived by twelve great-grandchildren:
Macy, Nigel, Cooper, Kade, Amelia, Lily, Emma,
Henry, Jayse, Sydney, Jordyn, and Maddie.
She was preceded in death by one son: Geoffrey
Griffin; and six brothers: Paul Leeds, Berne Leeds,
Dareld Leeds, Robert Leeds, Lenord Aldrich, and
Donnie Aldrich Burrell.
Phyllis was a 1953 graduate of Green Valley High
School. She met Harold, the love of her life, at a
local square dance in Green Valley in the early
1950s. They courted until his return from Korea in
1954 and married June 5, 1955, the wedding
anniversary of his parents, Lloyd E. and Gertrude
Willis Griffin.
Phyllis briefly studied nursing at Methodist
Hospital, but then chose to pursue her lifelong love
of music begun at the tender age of 3 on the piano
with her Aunt Estella Leeds Hendrick. She continued
with a local teacher and loved to practice singing
in the barnyard, serenading the chickens and other
farm animals. She studied voice and advanced piano
at Bradley University. |
Through the years, Phyllis sang and
played for school and church services, and local
contests, along with many church revivals, weddings,
and funerals. In 1972 she graduated from Millikin
University with degrees in Music Education and Voice
and Piano Performance. She was proud to have had the
privilege to study with retired world-renowned
concert pianist, Elizabeth Travis, who remained a
friend until her passing.
Having taught school music in Beason beginning in
1972, Phyllis also offered private studio lessons in
Decatur and Bloomington/Normal. Her students would
number in the hundreds, playing and putting on
musicals in local churches, nursing homes and
community halls.
Phyllis was a member of Lincoln Christian Church. As
the final notes of Phyllis’s life song ends here on
earth, a new song full of joy and wonder begins in
heaven and she wanted to share her and Hal’s
favorite Bible verse: And now these three remain:
Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is
love. Their love story continues in every life they
touched. They are greatly missed, and our memories
are so very precious.
Memorials may be made to Waynesville Fire & Rescue
or Humane Society of Logan County.
Final arrangements are entrusted with Peasley
Funeral Home of Lincoln.
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Phyllis
J. Griffin
