Helen Griffin Obituary

HELEN KIM GRIFFIN September 6, 1929 - July 4, 2023 Our mother Helen Kim Griffin peacefully passed away on July 4 at the age of 93. Helen Griffin was a brilliant woman of discriminating intelligence, a leading servant of the community, an international adventurer, a dedicated friend, and mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunty to her extended family. Helen grew up in Wahiawa, her Korean father a cane field worker, her mother a picture bride. She excelled at Leileihua High School, but her life changed when she won a State, then regional, then national speech contest. Her prize was a full scholarship to Boston University. Upon her return, Helen enrolled in the UH masters program, and met and married John Griffin. In 1952, she was the first woman in Hawaii to receive a Fulbright Scholarship, choosing to study in Bristol, England. Back in the islands, John Griffin joined the Associated Press, taking the family to Manila, Singapore, and (pre-war) Saigon. While overseas, their youngest daughter Kimi became ill. Tragically, Kimi had leukemia and passed away. John then accepted a job with the newly formed Peace Corps and the family was on the move again, this time to Washington D.C. That year, President John Kennedy was assassinated. Helen and John returned to Hawaii, where John became Editorial Page Editor of the Honolulu Advertiser and Helen began years of community service. She worked for Lieutenant Governors Tom Gill and Jean King; Senator Bert Kobayashi; and City Council Chair, Marilyn Bornhorst. She was on the Kakaako Urban Planning Board, and was President of the League of Women Voters. Helen taught English at both High School and University levels, spent a year teaching in Japan, and became a Program Officer at the East West Center. All the while, she was a consummate soccer mom, opera aficionado, runner of marathons, and a gracious hostess at her memorable parties. After a divorce, she and her best friend Anne began hiking Hawaii and later, the world. The list is iconic: Milford Track, Cinque Terre, Ireland, Banff, Annapurna Sanctuary and Panch Pokhari, Machu Picchu, Africa, Tibet, Bhutan, Istanbul and Cappadocia, eventually culminating in Gangotri in the Himalayas at age 86. When asked what were her favorite hikes on Oahu, she answered, "The peaks." Helen's home was an extended family where one might meet hikers and lawyers, East West Center Grantees and Fellows, journalists, League members, politicians, academics, Hare Krishna devotees, and loutish surfers. She is survived by children: Maile Allin (Tom), Jonty Griffin (Midge), and Kevin Griffin (Corinne); grandchildren: Nama, Aaron, Keola, Natalie, and Olivia; and great grandchildren: Madhava and Premanjan; numerous nieces and nephews, and her dear, dear friends. Her death is tempered by the fact that her life was extraordinary. She loved and was loved. Arrangements Provided By: Oahu Mortuary