There are two things you knew right away after spending any time at all with Harry Griffith: the man loved this community, and he adored his family. The longtime Realtor, public servant, and community booster died Saturday at the age of 95, less than a year after the death of Mary, his wife of 72 years. The two spent most of their years together on 120 acres in Genoa Township, where they raised two children who grew up to be just as devoted to Livingston County.
Though they would probably not like me saying this because they were modest people, the truth is that Harry and Mary Griffith were Livingston County royalty, the very best kind that comes along every once in a while, like Haley’s Comet: they were utterly devoted to each other and this community, and they rolled up their sleeves, relished the work, and got stuff done.
For their intense dedication and many contributions to this community, the two received one of its highest honors: they were chosen as grand marshals of the 2009 Fantasy of Lights Parade.
Harry received another of its highest honors when he was named Howell’s Citizen of the Year in 2019.
Their roots in Howell are deep. The two met when they were kids. After Mary’s mother died of cancer, her father, L. Harold Crandall, sold the house on Grand River Avenue in which they were living, and bought the house across the street. The move to the white Greek Revival house at 322 E. Grand River Ave. — one of the oldest structures in downtown Howell — allowed him to operate his business, Crandall Realty, from the front two rooms while they lived in the rest of the house. Harry’s father bought their old house, located across the street, which was torn down to make way for a series of businesses — including an IGA supermarket and the Livingston County Press — on the site where the Michigan Psychological Care building now stands. Harry and his family then lived in an apartment above the Historic Howell Theater, and his parents owned the soda fountain and taxi service adjoining it.
Harry drove for the taxi service while he attended Michigan State University as an Air Force ROTC student. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Harry was recruited to serve in a special intelligence unit in Washington, D.C., where he worked with the CIA and other military branches to identify possible bombing targets during the Korean War.
It was during this time that he and Mary wed, and they decided to move back to Howell when Harry left the military. Instead of accepting a corporate job offer with probable moves to different locations, Harry decided he wanted to keep spreading roots in Howell. He got into what he called “the greatest business in the world” and joined his father-in-law in Crandall Realty. Harry once said that he sold, owned or appraised just about every property in the Howell area.
He and Mary embarked on their long life of community service, and watched their children — Scott Griffith, a Michigan Realtor of the Year, and Carol Griffith, former chair of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners — follow in the family business, establishing ERA Griffith Realty in Brighton. Both of them were multiple recipients of the county’s Realtor of the Year award, and it was Carol, the 2018 Howell Citizen of the Year, who presented the same award to her father in 2019.
Harry served as a chairperson of the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce, a past president of the Livingston County Association of Realtors, president of the Howell Rotary Club, a member of the Salvation Army board of directors, and a past director and vice board chair of First National Bank of Howell (which is now Bank of Ann Arbor). He also belonged to the Livingston County Farmers Club, Howell Masons, and the Howell American Legion.
He headed up Livingston County’s Community Chest fund drive in 1968. As a retired U.S. Air Force captain, Harry helped establish and expand the Livingston County Civil Air Patrol.
Livingston County’s Realtor of the Year in 1963 and 1976, Harry was also named 1996’s Realtor Active in Politics by the Michigan Association of Realtors.
When he received the 2019 Citizen of the Year Award, Harry said that he had been “so blessed in this community for so many years.”
But the truth is, it’s this community that has been so blessed from having known Harry.
