John K.H. Griffith was born January 14, 1943 in Springfield, Illinois to Dr. John K. Griffith and Corinne Harrison Griffith. He attended grade school in Sunflower, Marion, Effingham and Valley Falls, Kansas, where, following the 2nd World War, and graduation from Medical School, his father served patients in a large rural area. After his parents separated, his mother took the family back to her parents’ home in Springfield.
Graduating from high school in Springfield in 1960, he was on the winning state basketball team. He married in 1964, and Mary taught school in Lafayette, while he finished pharmacy school at Purdue University in 1965. He worked for Mummert’s Pharmacy in Springfield until 1968, when he purchased his first pharmacy, known as The Pill Box. Much to neighborhood dismay, he immediately removed cigarettes, but happily kept the long, marble-topped soda fountain.
John served as President of the local Pharmacy Association, the Governor’s Advisory Task Force for Public Aid, and was a longtime member of the Sangamo Club, The First Methodist Church, Scoutleader for the Land of Lincoln Boy Scout Council, Fellow of the American College of Apothecaries, and a state and national member of APhA since 1963.
He sang in church choirs, and a barbershop group, and especially enjoyed his years at Camps Jayhawk and Philmont. Happy on the trail, and happiest in the mountains, moving to Bozeman was a dream come true. There, he bought Medical Arts Pharmacy which he closed in 2016 upon retirement, after 51 years behind the counter. He loved to dance, backpack, garden and bird, where his musical ear was phenomenal. In 1983, he helped found Gallatin Hospice. He was always a preceptor for student pharmacists and proud of their successes, instilling in them a strong sense of patient advocacy.
John loved a difficult challenge. He never turned down a legitimate request for service, in spite of a patient’s inability to pay. For many years, he was the only pharmacist willing to take care of nursing home emergencies in the middle of the night. Always kind, well-dressed, compassionate, with a wry sense of humor, he was a true gentleman, and he looked for the good in everyone.
John is survived by his wife of 60 years, their children Sarah (Dirk Luoma), John (Kristin), and Catherine (Jason Crume), and six grandchildren, Corbin and Eron Luoma, Evan and Seth Griffith, Margaret and Jackson Crume.
He is also survived by his sister, Katherine Pearson of Fort Pond, Massachusetts, brother Kenneth Griffith of St. Louis, sister Margaret Wolters of Springfield, Illinois, sister Rebecca Peterman of Syracuse, New York and several nieces and nephews.
John died peacefully at home on November 1, of aggressive metastatic cancer, surrounded by his loving family. His last words might well be, “Keep a song in your heart.” Always generous in service to his community and the next generation of medical practitioners, he has donated his body to the WWAMI program.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Nature Conservancy.
A Celebration of John’s Life will be held on Saturday, November 16 at 2:00 P.M. at Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service with a reception to follow.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com [dokkennelson.com]
