Linda Lee Griffin

What a gift Linda was to her husband Nate of 51 years as of September 7th. Having met Linda in a Political Science class at OSU in 1972 and asking her for a date it was not long before he was smitten.

After dating for two years, he asked her to marry him and she accepted. They lived in an apartment that was in an area not far from the OSU campus paying $125 a month for a 2-bedroom town house, the water bugs were free. During the time they lived there both finished their under graduate degrees Linda in social work and Nate in psychology. Seemed like that was a good start and it was. This was also where Linda found their first dogs and named them Gamay and Moselle both after a wine producing grape.

After graduating Linda worked as a waitress, now referred to as a server at a number of restaurants including Steak and Ale Steak House. Linda’s second love after Nate, and later our family, was her love of animals, they had four by then two dogs and two cats, but that was not enough. Linda’s love for animals led to her obtaining certification as a veterinarian technician and she worked at a veterinarian clinic until their first child was born.

After sharing their apartment with numerous water bugs, some finding their way into their bed thanks to the cats, they brought their first home in Clintonville. They found a cute 2 bedroom on the first day they looked. They lived in that home for 10 years and loved the area. They often entertained friends and relatives Nate cooking on his Weber grill and Linda creating some delicious meals to go along with what Nate cooked. There was a large back yard which frequently led to a rollicking game of badminton or croquet while drinking a cold beer or two or some homemade sangria.

After several years Linda and Nate welcomed their first child Amber. At this junction in their lives Linda made a life changing decision. She wanted to stay at home to raise their daughter. As it turned out that was a true blessing as later, they found Amber had some significant disabilities requiring a huge amount of intervention and support. Consequently, Linda was to remain a stay-at-home mother/wife.

After living in their first home for 10 years they decided to adopt a child, they now had a 5-year-old daughter and a new born son, Devin. After a couple of years, they felt a larger house was needed so left Clintonville and brought their second home in the KarMel area. After living there for five years Linda and Nate adopted another baby, a girl they named Kira. That led to another move to their third home in Forest Park East.

During the time of having three children and making numerous moves their family also went on several vacations including four trips to Disney World, several trips to Florida to visit Linda’s parents, and to Alabama to visit Linda’s sister Bonnie. The trips to Disney were always a treat for the kids and Linda. She loved the Disney motif and frequently worn Disney character theme clothing with her favorite being Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh.

They lived in forest Park for 20 years. They had some great neighbors and there were many kids for the children to play and grow up with. Of course, Linda was busy with three children at home, but being five years between each meant they were in three different schools. Linda volunteered at all three in a range of roles and activities. The volunteering included duty at Devin’s high school where Linda’s job included cleaning out refrigerator after dozens of high schoolers left their lunch remains.

They soon learned that schools did not always meet their expectations, especially in regard to their daughter Amber being integrated with non-disabled students. They felt it was important for Amber’s development that she socialize and learn from those students. They also saw it as an opportunity for those non-disabled students and school staff to see the value in integration. Linda’s belief was beyond that issue, but also embraced her belief that all people be given opportunities to maximize their potential. She was a strong advocate and a leader in educational integration in 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s. she did that by advocating for their daughter and demonstrating integration was beneficial and possible.

When all of the children were on their own Linda and Nate moved to their fourth home a modest range with first floor laundry, a must for a home as they aged. Of course, by this time they had also accumulated a total of seven cats and three dogs all rescue animals. During Nate’s early retirement they enjoyed many picnics and hikes through all twenty of the Metro Parks in the Columbus area, and visited their favorite’s several times. In addition, they both sought out ways to help their community and volunteered weekly. Both volunteered at a hospice organization and, also through Cat Welfare, by taking cats to visit patients at a nursing home. Covid put a hold on the volunteering, but they were able to enjoy their extended family regularly including three grandchildren. This included Linda and Nate always having dinner for the family at Thanksgiving and Christmas with Nate cooking the turkey on his weber grill and Linda making a stuffing everyone loved.

Fourteen years after they moved to this home tragedy as Linda was consumed by a condition called Progressive Supranuclearpalsy, PSP. Early symptoms were likely missed, but then they accelerated and within six months Linda’s health was greatly compromised, unable to perform most daily tasks, then not able to walk, she was bed ridden for the last three weeks of her life and passed at home. As always, she put everyone ahead of herself and even prior to her death worried about all of them including reminders to Nate about taking care of the many chores she handled like banking, shopping, making medical appointments, changing the furnace filters, ordering pet food from Chewy, remembering birthdays and buying gifts for their children and grandchildren etc. She was the center and strength of the family.

Family will welcome friends and loved ones on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM for a celebration of Linda's incredible life at Newcomer Funeral Home, NE, located at 3047 E. Dublin-Granville Rd, Columbus, Ohio. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of the charities close to Linda's heart listed below.