Obituary of Ray Lee Griffiths

Ray Griffiths passed away on Saturday July 19th in Santa Cruz after an unexpected brief illness. Ray was born on April 1, 1931 in Merced, CA. He was raised there attending Merced Union High and graduating from Modesto Junior College and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He was a member of Tau Sigma. He served in the US Air Force from 1951 - 1955 as a flight technician and flew several missions as a B-29 crew member. The flights took him many places including Okinawa, Japan and the Philippines. In 1960 he was hired by Lockheed and worked as an engineer and manager. He played a roll in the Gemini space program as well as the Hubble Telescope. He retired in 1991. Ray was a longtime resident of Felton, CA and enjoyed hunting, fishing and snow skiing. He also enjoyed spending time outdoors and was an avid sports fan. Ray and his wife (Lani) purchased a motor home and made several trips including a trip to Alaska that took 13 weeks. He also took trips abroad to Europe and South America. Ray is survived by his wife Lani (Meredith) Griffiths to whom he was married for 56 years. 2 children: Alyson Griffiths and Shannon (Doug) Wilson. He is also survived by 5 grand children: Zachary Griffiths, David de la Luz, Sarah Wilson, Lindsay Wilson and Jacob Wilson. Ray was preceded in death by his parents, David & Iona (Winn) Griffiths, a son, Curt Griffiths and a brother and sister, Howard William Griffiths and Neva Jean (Griffiths) McComb. Friends and family are invited to a visitation on Friday July 25, 2014 from 1:00 - 8:00 PM at the Oakwood Memorial Chapel 3301 Paul Sweet Road Santa Cruz, CA. Funeral Service will be on Saturday July 26, 2014 at 2:00 PM at Oakwood Memorial Chapel. In lieu of flowers contributions can be sent to the Santa Cruz S.P.C.A. 2685 Chanticleer Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95065 or Calvary Chapel 1500 Green Hills Rd, Scotts Valley, CA 95066.