JAMES ELBERT 'JIM' GRIFFIN

The funeral service of James Elbert "Jim" Griffin, 63, of Leesburg, Ga., who died Nov. 9, 2008, will be conducted Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Leesburg United Methodist Church. Rev. Mike Lyons and Rev. Eugene Barlow will officiate. Interment will follow in the Morgan Methodist Church Cemetery.

A native of Miami, Fla., Mr. Griffin had resided in the Albany area since 1978, moving from Benton, Ark. He was a 1963 graduate of Fair Park High School in Shreveport, La., a graduate of Louisiana College in Pineville, La., and received his master's degree from the University of Central Arkansas.

Mr. Griffin founded the Special Olympics in the State of Arkansas and was honored for his accomplishment by President Richard Nixon and Eunice Shriver. Before his retirement, he was employed with the State of Georgia and served as the director of the local mental retardation center and worked at the Marine Corps Logistics Base as the technical librarian for five years. Mr. Griffin was a member of the Leesburg United Methodist Church and the Cannon Sunday School Class.

Survivors include his wife, Elaine S. Griffin of Leesburg; a son, James "Jimbo" Griffin of Little Rock, Ark.; his mother, Bootsie Griffin; a sister and her husband, Judy and Larry Perkins all of Kilgore; two grandsons, James Ryan Griffin and Joshua Thomas Griffin, both of San Antonio; a great-grandson, Tristan Griffin Flores; an aunt, Marie Elliott of Oklahoma City; four nieces, Penni Perkins of Greenville, Jana Perkins Hernandez of The Woodlands, Jan S. Nixon of Hinesville, Ga., and Allison S. Woodruff of Carrollton, Ga.; three nephews, Chuck Shippey of Bradenton, Fla., Alan Shippey of Stone Mountain, Ga., and P.J. Shippey of Monroe, Ga.

Mr. Griffin was preceded in death by his daughter, Rhonda Carol Griffin and his father, Rev. James Alexander Griffin.

The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Tuesday at Mathews Funeral Home.

Those desiring may make contributions to James and Bootsie Griffin Scholarship Fund, 501East North St. Kilgore, TX 75662.

To sign our online registry or to send condolences to the family, you may visit Mathews¿ web site at www.mathewsfuneralhome.c om.