Daniel David Griffin

Daniel David Griffin, 81, passed peacefully on Nov. 6, 2011 in Little Rock after a short illness. Dan was born Oct. 15, 1930, in Houston, Miss., to J.D. and Lesbie Wilson Griffin and resided in Stuttgart, Ark. A child of the Great Depression, Dan carried the lessons of hard work, austerity and a can-do attitude with him throughout life and worked a multitude of jobs as a young man: on the family farm in the age of mule-drawn plows, as a deckhand on riverboats plying the Mississippi, even running a honky tonk for a time in college. He received a BS in Civil Engineering from Mississippi State University in 1953 and made his career over 30 years with the Texas Eastern Corporation, overseeing construction and operation of much of the nation's petroleum pipeline system. While working in Arkansas he met, courted and married Shirley Marie Hooks of Slovak, Ark., in June 1960. Pipeline work moved Dan and his family all over the south, from Thibodaux to Tennessee, finally landing in Little Rock in 1979. He always followed his credo that "there are good people everywhere", and made lifelong friends at every stop. Dan had a sharp sense of humor, loved being around people, and wasn't afraid of a scrap, playing football with abandon in the days of leather helmets and settling disagreements the old-fashioned way in his younger days. Dan always had a project going, which usually involved manual labor for his boys. These included using them as "flush dogs" on a quail hunt, sharpening their homemade stilts to aerate the yard, or hooking them up like oxen to a wheelbarrow to haul a deer out of the woods. In retirement he trained many an excellent Labrador duck dog and loved to take his boys hunting on the rice fields of the Grand Prairie. Dan was always ready with hundreds of stories of big fish, boats that sank, cars that ran fast and women that wouldn't. He loved hunting, boating and fishing and lived life to its absolute fullest. The family wishes to deeply thank the staff at St. Vincent Select Care and especially Dan's "Angels" that cared for him for many years: Norma McCastle, Lois Stigger, Pearl Rogers and Letha Turentine; Dr. Noble Daniel, Lee Ann Krisell and many, many others. Stuttgart is truly a city that looks after and cares for its own. Dan was preceded in death by his parents and wife of 35 years, Shirley Hooks Griffin, whom he cared for in sickness for many years. He is survived by son David Griffin, son Michael and Bonnie Griffin, granddaughter Juliana and grandson Andrew, all of Little Rock. He is also survived by sister Charlene Current of Lexington, Ky., brother Darrell Griffin of Houston, Miss., and many nieces, nephews and friends. Visitation will be Tuesday, Nov. 8 from 6-7:30 p.m. at Turpin Funeral Home in Stuttgart. A graveside service and wake will be at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Cemetery in Slovak, Ark., on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. Memorials may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. We'll miss you, Dad.