Longtime Willimantic firefighter leaves legacy
Sep. 27—WILLIMANTIC — Windham Board of Finance Chairman Tyler Griffin remembers his father, John Griffin, as someone who was always looking to help others.
" He put everyone else before himself," Griffin said.
John Griffin, a longtime Willimantic firefighter, died on Sunday at 79 yearsold.
He died from gastric cancer, which he was diagnosed with in Dec. 2020.
Griffin said his father, who grew up in Willimantic, was a Willimantic firefighter from 1970 to 1999 and served as president of the firefighter's union for 18 years.
John Griffin was living in Willimantic when he died.
After retiring from the fire department in 1999, he was a judicial marshal for Windham County for 15 years. Griffin said his father was a member of the Willimantic Elks for many years and was a member of St. Joseph's parish in Willimantic.
He described his father as a " very patient" and " calm" person.
"He would do anything for me and my brother (Jeffrey) or his granddaughters," Griffin said. He said he remembered that his friends wanted to help out his father at his bachelor party in Pawtucket, R. I., more than 12 years ago and he wouldn't let them.
" He just laughed at every single person," Griffin said.
Willimantic Fire Chief Marc Scrivener said he replaced Griffin in Feb. 1999 after Griffin retired. Black bunting currently hangs in front of the Willimantic station in memory of Griffin, a tradition when firefighters died. Griffin will also be recognized during the department's annual firefighter memorial service on Oct. 16 at noon at the fire station.
Scrivener said he didn't know Griffin, but spoke about his longtime service in the Willimantic Fire Department. He said when Griffin retired, many of the veterans had been in the department for 30 years or more. Scrivener said now, the town offers retirement benefits to Willimantic firefighters who have worked for at least 25 years. He said the demands of the job are much greater than they were before and therefore, firefighters may not want to stay as long as they once did.
" Our call volume is so much higher than it was 30 or 40 years ago," Scrivener said.
Windham Mayor
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