{"id":18721,"date":"2012-05-10T14:59:51","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T19:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=18721"},"modified":"2012-05-10T15:42:56","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T20:42:56","slug":"daniel-p-griffin-jr-advocate-for-the-deaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/05\/10\/daniel-p-griffin-jr-advocate-for-the-deaf\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel P. Griffin Jr., advocate for the deaf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel P. Griffin Jr., advocate for the deaf<\/strong><\/p>\n

By THE DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE<\/p>\n

Staff Writer<\/p>\n

April 30, 2012<\/p>\n

HOUSTON – Daniel P. Griffin Jr., 93, died April 25, 2012, in Houston.<\/p>\n

He was preceded in death by his devoted wife of 64 years, Elizabeth;
\nhis parents, Dr. and Mrs. Daniel Griffin; two sisters, Lucy Holmes and
\nAnne Griffin; and his oldest son, Dan III.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his children Judith Usilton and her late husband,
\nJim, of Trumbull, Conn., Missy Sullivan of North Hatfield, Mass., John
\nGriffin and his wife, Pamela, of Wellesley, Mass., Patty Decker and her
\nhusband, Joe, of Katy, and Sheila Grady of Fort Worth; 13
\ngrandchildren, Scott Usilton and his wife, Elena, Sara Usilton, Jenifer
\nMuscaro and her husband, John, Ryan Sullivan and his wife, Lindsay,
\nJohn Griffin Jr., Katie Griffin, Lily Griffin, Jake Griffin, Jessica
\nHansen and her husband, Travis, Jay Decker, Elissa Johnson and her
\nhusband, Nate, Shannon Grady and Lauren Grady; and six
\ngreat-grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Dan graduated from Williston Academy in Easthampton in 1936 and from
\nGeorgetown University in 1946. The intervening years he devoted to the
\nservice of our country. Commissioned as ensign in 1940, he was
\nimmediately assigned to the ill-fated U.S. Asiatic fleet and served as
\nengineer officer on the USS Isabel, the last U.S. ship to leave Java
\nafter 93 days of combat with better equipped Japanese vessels. USS
\nIsabel did not meet the same sad end as most of the Asiatic fleet,
\nincluding its flagship, USS Houston.<\/p>\n

At the height of the sinking of the U.S. merchant ships in mid-1942,
\nDan served as 2nd engineer officer on several merchant vessels and as
\n1st engineer on several more. On Dec. 29, 1944, having served the
\nrequired time for advancement, Dan passed the examinations for his
\nunlimited license as chief engineer, in which capacity he continued to
\nserve at sea until Japan surrendered to end World War II.<\/p>\n

In addition to the customary decorations, he was cited by the British
\ngovernment for his part in the Battle of the Atlantic and by the
\ngovernment of France for his participation in the Normandy invasion and
\nthe freeing of France.<\/p>\n

In his business career, Dan served as product marketing manager in the
\nNorden division of United Aircraft Corp., now United Technologies, and
\nin that position he was a pioneer in the field of analog-to-digital
\nconversion. He was in demand as a speaker at various colleges and
\nuniversities as well as to industrial engineering groups. He authored
\nnumerous papers and was asked by McGraw Hill’s magazine “Electronics”
\nfor permission to print one of them. The paper served as the cover
\narticle in the April 2, 1960, issue of the magazine.<\/p>\n

While thus employed, Dan developed an interest in the affairs of the
\ndeaf people in our population and became influential in their society.
\nHe was twice elected president of the International Parent
\nOrganization, a worldwide association of 15,000 parents of deaf
\nchildren, one of three divisions of The Alexander Graham Bell
\nAssociation for the Deaf. He was named to the board of directors and to
\nthe executive committee at the same worldwide organization.<\/p>\n

In 1970, under the sponsorship of the Clarke School for the Deaf in
\nNorthampton, he wrote and directed a documentary motion picture titled
\n“Everything But Hear.” This film was accorded awards by the National
\nCouncil on Family Relations, by the Greater Columbus Film Festival, as
\nwell as the American Film Festival. The motion picture was selected by
\nthe United States Information Agency and shown by them to 535 TV
\noutlets in 86 countries. The University of Melbourne incorporated the
\nfilm into a new program in audiology and the Smithsonian Institution
\nused it in a one-year public information program devoted to
\nrehabilitation.<\/p>\n

The Clarke School for the Deaf ordered a supply of the documentary and
\nfor a number of years shipped the film in response to requests from
\nschools and other organizations serving the needs of the deaf. Although
\nthe school has equipped itself with additional, more recent pictures,
\nthere are still requests for a showing.<\/p>\n

By this time, Dan had abandoned his career in industry and, when not
\nengaged in advancing the benefits accorded to the deaf, he devoted his
\ntime to two literary societies. His investiture in the Baker Street
\nIrregulars was as General De Merville, and he was appointed Ambassador
\nCockroach in the Worshipful Company of Ailing Cockroaches.<\/p>\n

A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, May 4, at 1 p.m. at St.
\nJohn Vianney Catholic Church, 625 Nottingham Oaks Trail, Houston, Texas
\n77079. The family will receive friends at a reception on Friday, May 4,
\nat 3 p.m. in the Solarium at The Carriage Inn, 1400 Katy Flewellen,
\nKaty, Texas 77494. Interment will be in Mountain Grove Cemetery,
\nBridgeport, Conn.<\/p>\n

Arrangements under the care of Earthman Funeral Directors, Hunters
\nCreek Chapel, 8303 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas 77024, 713-465-8900.
\nYou are invited to leave written tributes and condolences for the
\nfamily by visiting our website at http:\/\/www.earthmanhunterscreek.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.gazettenet.com\/2012\/04\/30\/daniel-p-griffin-jr-advocate-for-the-deaf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniel P. Griffin Jr., advocate for the deaf By THE DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE Staff Writer April 30, 2012 HOUSTON – Daniel P. Griffin Jr., 93, died April 25, 2012, in Houston. He was preceded in death by his devoted wife…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[13804,13792,13802,13796,4621,13800,13809,13793,13810,13785,13805,13787,13801,13788,13795,20,13806,13798,13808,13794,13807,17,13790,13799,13791,13797,13789,13786,13803],"class_list":["post-18721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-ailing-cockroaches","tag-alexander-graham-bell-association-for-the-deaf","tag-ambassador-cockroach","tag-american-film-festival","tag-article","tag-baker-street-irregulars","tag-bridgeport","tag-clarke-school-for-the-deaf","tag-connecticut","tag-daniel-p-griffin-jr","tag-earthman-funeral","tag-easthampton","tag-general-de-merville","tag-georgetown-university","tag-greater-columbus-film-festival","tag-houston","tag-hunters-creek-chapel","tag-motion-picture","tag-mountain-grove-cemetery","tag-national-council-on-family-relations","tag-st-john-vianney-catholic-church","tag-texas","tag-united-aircraft-corp","tag-united-states-information-agenc","tag-united-technologies","tag-university-of-melbourne","tag-uss-houston","tag-williston-academy","tag-worshipful-company"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-4RX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22009,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/02\/27\/hbda-rodeo-fundraiser-3913-houston\/","url_meta":{"origin":18721,"position":0},"title":"HBDA Rodeo Fundraiser 3\/9\/13 – Houston","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Houston Black Deaf Advocates (HBDA) Rodeo Fundraiser When: Saturday, March 9, 2013 Time: 3 PM to 5 PM Where: Fellowship Hall 9920 Long Point RD Houston, Texas 77055 Prizes for BESTERN WESTERN OUTFIT, Man and Woman! 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