Obituary of William Griffiths

William F. Griffiths Died peacefully surrounded by his family Friday July 14th at the age of 91. Bill was a caring and devoted husband of the late Madge Griffiths (1915-2004) and loving father of Vicki and Debbie. He was also a proud grandfather of Rebecca, David, Jacqueline, Faith and Angela and dear brother of Kaye Miller and the late Violet Robinson and Mayme Thorsteinson. Bill was born January 5th, 1915 in Saltcoats, Saskatchewan and lived for close to two years in Aber Frau, North Wales as a young child with his mother and sister, Violet. He began a lifelong career in the grocery business at the age of eight when he delivered groceries for the local food store in Saltcoats. He began working with Canada Safeway Limited at the age of 19 in Regina, Saskatchewan moving to various towns in the province until he became the youngest store manager in the company�s history in Shonavan at the young age of 23. In 1940 he was transferred to Rosetown, Saskatchewan where he met his future wife, Madge Maycock, the dietician at the local hospital. He joined the RCAF in 1941, served as a rear gunner on the 415 and 419 Squadrons and completed two tours over Europe earning him the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) presented to him by the King of England in 1945. While overseas, he reunited with his love, Madge and they were married in Tourquay, England November 5th, 1945. Following the wedding, Bill was transferred to Germany where he was part of the Nazi war trials. Upon his return to Canada, he continued his working relationship with Canada Safeway in Vancouver in 1947 where he managed a store for six months and then moved into the office as a produce buyer. He subsequently moved to Saskatoon in 1948, and finally to Winnipeg in 1950 for the remainder of his working career. There he continued with Safeway until his retirement in 1980 having served over 40 years with the company and culminating in his final role as Chairman of the Board of Canada Safeway Limited. Bill was an extremely supportive and generous individual to many members of his family as well as friends both in Canada and in Wales. A private family memorial service will be held Tuesday, July 18th, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Reception to follow, from 3:30 pm, at 41 Tofino Crescent. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), 1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4G 3E8.