Garth Harrison Griffin of Shelter Island died at home on Monday, January 27, 2020. He was 66.
The family will receive friends on Friday, January 31, 4 to 7 PM at the Shelter Island Funeral Home, 23 West Neck Road.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, February 1, 1PM at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, 32 North Ferry Road, officiated by Reverend Robert Griffin.
Interment will follow at the Shelter Island Cemetery behind the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation and/or the Shelter Island Fire Department. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home.
A friend remembers …
Brent Haney of New Canaan, CT and Shelter Island attended Marietta College with Griffin and the two remained fast friends. He recalled him Tuesday as a superior athlete. They rowed crew together at Marietta, earning spots on the freshman heavyweight team.
“We went undefeated that year and won the Dad Vail regatta besting small college teams from all over the country,” Haney wrote in a text.
Griffin rowed in high school for Kent School, Haney said. His team won the 1972 Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in Henley-on-Thames, England. It’s considered the most prestigious races that a schoolboy rower could win.
You can watch that race in this YouTube video. Griffin is the fourth rower from the front of the Kent boat, which is in the foreground.
