Mather E. (closeup) GRIFFIN

1915-2015
“Century Club”

Mason

Photo/information courtesy of Edith Guynes Stanley

*Obituary
M. E. Griffin
May 7, 1915 - November 15, 2015

M. E. Griffin, 100, formerly of Hilltop Lakes, passed away at his daughter’s home in Houston on Sunday, November 15, 2015. Memorial services will be held on Thursday, November 19, in the Hilltop Lakes Chapel at 11 am. Dr. Tony Taylor will preside over services. Burial will be on Friday, November 20, in Borger, TX. Funeral services have been entrusted to Cozart Funeral Home in Normangee, TX.

M. E. “Griff” Griffin was born in Merritt, TX on May 7, 1915 to his parents Luther and Lucy (Gresham) Griffin. Griff was an Airport Manager for many years. He was an avid pilot and loved to fly. Griff was certified FAA Flight Examiner and was highly respected as a pilot. Griff was involved in many organizations over the years and remained active in the Rotary Club and as a faithful Mason and Shriner. Griff retired and moved to Hilltop Lakes, TX where he became one of the community. His hobbies included golf which he loved playing and became pretty good at the sport. He joined the Choir at the Hilltop Lakes Chapel and enjoyed singing with them. He loved his family dearly and was a proud to be a grandfather and a great grandfather.

Griff was preceded in death by both his parents; Luther and Lucy Griffin, and a son, Phillip Edwin Griffin.

Griff Griffin is survived by his daughter Loretta Hazzard and her husband Gerald of Houston; four granddaughters; eight grandsons; and one granddaughter.

(Published by Cozart Funeral Home, November 17, 2015)
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Few men have the opportunity to leave their mark on an entire region. Its no small feat to impact the lives of so many, that a legacy remains long after death. Even so, the passing of one local legend leaves just that, a legacy of achievement in aeronautic instruction right here in Hutchinson County. This is the legacy of M.E. "Griff" Griffin.

"I was a little disappointed when they put the new terminal out there that they didn't call it the M.E. Griffin building!" laughs Gerald Hazzard, son-in-law to the late Griffin. "He was one of the pioneer aviation guys up in the area. He was an FAA examiner for 30 years." True enough, countless pilots can trace their education back to the tutelage of Griff back at the Hutchinson County airport, and while many remain in the area, others have taken the knowledge offered by Griff to pursue careers in aviation across the country. According to Gerald, the decades Griff spent sharing his passion for flight all stemmed from a love developed at a young age.

"I'll tell you one story he told me," Gerald says, "he was born in 1915, and he said in about 1923 he was working in a cotton patch, and he looked over his shoulder and saw one of these barnstormers flying by, and he said, 'Buddy one of these days I'm going to be up there and out of this cotton patch,' and he made it happen." Gerald says, "It was a short time later he joined his older brother who was a mechanic at an airport, and he went to join him over the summer. He learned a little about mechanics, but he also learned to fly. In those days, they didn't really have any regulated people to teach, it was jut an 'I'll teach you, and you teach me' kind of thing, and they'd go out in the airplanes and take off in fields... They'd fly a bit, cut the power, and land. Gradually they'd go higher and higher and learn to turn and everything; they'd teach themselves to fly."

It was this firsthand knowledge learned at the dawn of aviation that Griff passed on to pilots across the region. Decades of his own personal skill and experience not only forged world class pilots, it inspired a love of flight in countless hearts. "He became the aviation expert in Borger, and he taught everyone that knew how to fly in Borger for the last 70 years." Gerald says, "Recently the FAA honored him for teaching over 50 years without an accident, and the awesome thing is that he had three students who have been teaching for 50 years without accidents.

Griff's legacy extends beyond his students however, and it's not a stretch to say he was instrumental in developing the Hutchinson County airport from the days when it was first imagined. "When the city and county determined they were going to have a new location for an airport up north of town, that was in '52 or '53, they decided they wanted an airport manager to run it." Gerald explains, "They interviewed local people, and some around the panhandle, and they selected Griff as the first airport manager. He went about trying to drum up support for the airport, and he got a contract with an airline, Central Airlines, before they even got the airport finished to provide service to Borger." Gerald continues, "No one in the county could realize how important an airport was to the city, especially a county airport. People in Stinnett and neighboring towns couldn't see any benefit to them. So he went out to drum up support, and he would schedule fly-ins, air shows and he got a piper dealership which had a flying service. He had an airplane and would teach people to fly for $3 an hour, and the instructor would get $4-5 an hour. Back then the city was getting a deal from Phillips Petroleum for 11 cents per gallon fuel, and they could charge 21 cents per gallon for the county. They built up some aviation interest aside from airline traffic and post office needs."

For those who knew him, Griff's passion for aviation was a lifelong joy that impacted the lives of pilots, families, and children alike. For those who didn't, Hutchinson County's airport still stands as a place where locals can learn to fly, and share a master instructor's passion. Gerald concludes, "He always told me his profession was his hobby and he enjoyed every Monday morning. He'd be going someplace different all the time. He never set foot behind a desk, he'd just go up in the airplane, teaching people to fly safely."

(Published in Borger News Herald, November 27, 2015)

Contributed on 2/1/21 by neldapat
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Record #: 385099

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