Duluth lost one of its most generous benefactors and civic boosters when Leonard Everett Griffith, 86, died of cerebrovascular disease April 29 at his home in Tucson, Ariz., where he had moved after a successful business career.
Griffith spent most of his life in Duluth, where he began his career as an officer with First American National Bank. Over 30 years, he worked his way up to senior vice president, said his wife of 60 years, Karen.
He was a prominent civic leader, serving as president or board member of several organizations, including the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, Spirit Mountain Recreation Authority, the Duluth Tennis Club, the Duluth Kiwanis Club and Northwoods Children's Home. He served as an assistant Boy Scout leader, acted in plays at the Duluth Playhouse and helped adolescents get their cars ready for soap box derbies, Karen said.
"He was the type of person who felt that giving back to the community was an important element of being a citizen," said his son Thomas, of Plymouth.
Griffith was born in Minneapolis and graduated from the former West High School. His belief in service led him to the Army during World War II. He was a lieutenant and captain in the 1st Infantry, 16th Regiment and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
He recounted some of his wartime experiences in an interview that was recorded and in 2005 submitted to the Library of Congress for the Veterans History Project, Karen Griffith said.
He returned from World War II and majored in journalism and business at the University of Minnesota. He graduated in 1951 but returned to the service during the Korean War and was stationed in Texas. After the war, he returned to Minnesota, and he and his wife settled in her hometown of Duluth.
Besides working at the bank, which later became part of Norwest and ultimately Wells Fargo, Griffith taught public relations courses at the College of St. Scholastica. He enjoyed going to the Duluth Symphony, and his love of music led him and his wife to establish a music scholarship for students at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Griffith enjoyed traveling and visiting museums such as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and historical sites such as Gettysburg, Pa. In recent years, he served as a docent at Tohono Chul Park, a botanical garden in Tucson, and was an active member at his church, St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church, his wife said.
Above all, Griffith was a devoted family man who encouraged his children to do their best, his son said.
"He was a big supporter of my hockey games," Thomas said. "I was in a college playoff game [in Boston], and he interrupted his vacation in Florida and flew up and just showed up. I was touched."
In addition to his wife and son Thomas, Griffith is survived by another son, David of Newington, Conn., and a daughter, Margaret Larson of Wheaton, Ill.; two sisters, Mary Dean of Minneapolis and Ann Scoggin of Edina; six grandchildren, and special family friend and foreign exchange student Dr. Alec Martin-Achard of Geneva, Switzerland.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. today at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1710 E. Superior St., Duluth.
