The Rev. James M. Griffin, 89, Bible society director
The Rev. James Melvin Griffin, former executive director of the Maryland Bible Society, died Wednesday of pneumonia at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg. He was 89.
A native of Synder, Texas, Mr. Griffin earned a bachelor's degree from Pasadena (Calif.) College and bachelor's and master's degrees in theology from the Boston University School of Theology.
He spent 20 years serving United Methodist churches in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Harford County and Baltimore before joining the Bible society in 1958.
Two years later, he was named executive director of the society, which is based in Baltimore, and retired in 1978. During his tenure, he traveled around the state and distributed more than 8 million Bibles, said the society.
In 1934, he married Marion Peavey, who died in 1986. The next year, he married Stella Thompson Ensor, who died in 1995.
Services will be held at 1: 30 p.m. Wednesday at Lemmon Funeral Home, 10 W. Padonia Road in Timonium.
Mr. Griffin is survived by a brother, Charles Weldon Griffin of Santa Rosa, Calif.; and two nephews.
Helen Tarring Harrison, 92, co-founder of paint center
Helen Tarring Harrison, a co-founder of Harrison's Paint Center in Bel Air, died Friday of complications from pneumonia at Fallston General Hospital. She was 92 and resided in Bel Air.
The native of Tyron, Pa., grew up in the Philadelphia area and attended Strayer's Business College there before she moved to Aberdeen, where her father's family lived.
There she met her husband, George F. Harrison and, in 1947, they bought a building for their paint shop on Main Street in Bel Air.
Mrs. Harrison, who worked at the business until 1978, was an acknowledged expert in custom paint color matching.
Her son, George F. Harrison Jr., owns and operates the business.
Mrs. Harrison was a charter member in 1961 of the Bel Air Chapter of Soroptimist International and a former president.
Her husband, a former Bel Air town commissioner, died in 1968.
Services were held yesterday.
In addition to her son, Mrs. Harrison is survived by her sister, Dorotha Willis of Philadelphia; a grandson; a granddaughter; two great-grandsons; and a great-granddaughter.
Pub Date: 3/22/99