SOUTH PORTLAND — Henry A. “Bud” Griffin Jr., 91, of South Portland, died peacefully with his family by his side Feb. 23 after a brief illness.

He was born the son of Henry A. Griffin Sr. and Isabelle E. Griffin Aug. 3, 1921, in their cottage on Willard Beach in South Portland. They later lived on Smith St. in South Portland.

When he was a child, his parents and grandfather Daniel Cobb owned and ran a grocery store on Preble Street in South Portland.

Griffin attended South Portland schools and graduated from South Portland High School with the class of 1941.

In high school he was a diver, runner, swimmer and cheerleader, and was involved in the rifle club. He was proud of the fact that he had swum across the Casco Bay Channel. He was also one of the first members of the Downeast Ski Club, walking up Pleasant Mountain (now Shawnee Peak) to ski down.

He learned the electrical trade from his father and became an electrician. He worked at the South Portland Shipyard as an electrician and welder.

In the fall of 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Company A, 245th Engineer Combat Battalion, which was soon attached to the 3rd Army, led by Gen. George Patton.

Griffin fought across France, Germany, and Austria, conducting demolition, building bridges and performing other missions. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate Ebensee concentration camp. He also was at Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest shortly after it was captured. Griffin received three battle stars during his service as well as a Purple Heart after being wounded in action. He was proud to have once received praise directly from Patton.

After the war, Griffin resumed his electrical career. His parents owned the Dunscroft Inn in Scarborough where they served shore dinners to guests arriving by trolley. He ran Scarborough Electric Service in a little shop by the garage of the inn.

He married Marjorie Littlefield and helped raise her two young children, whose father was lost in the war. For a time, they lived in an apartment above a house next to the inn. They later moved to Downeast Lane in Scarborough, where they operated the Lamplighter Motel as well as Scarborough Electric Service.

Griffin later married Beatrice Lapomarda and had two children, Henry A Griffin III and Rosanne Griffin. He was also a stepdad to her prior two children, James A Castelluzzo and Janis Nichols.

Later in life, Griffin was very pleased to re-marry Marjorie Griffin and they lived together again on Downeast Lane until her passing two years ago, at which time he moved back to his home on Burwell Avenue, South Portland. There, he lived until his death.

He was a kind and happy man, always smiling and joking. It was important to Griffin to do his best for his family.

Griffin is predeceased by his father Henry A Griffin Sr. in 1972, his mother Isabelle E. Griffin in 2001, both of South Portland and Scarborough, and his wife Marjorie Griffin of Scarborough in 2011.

He is survived by his daughter Rosanne Griffin and his grandson Hunter Kremin, both of North Yarmouth; son Henry A. Griffin III, of the Netherlands; stepdaughter Donna Brady, of Scarborough; stepson Ray Littlefield, of Buxton, stepson James Castelluzzo of San Diego; stepdaughter Janis Nichols of Fall River, Mass.; sister Helen Smith-Hurd of Cape Elizabeth; sister Ruth Pelton of Windsor, Conn.; and many nieces, nephews and wonderful friends.

Visitation will be held on Saturday from 11-1 p.m. at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland. A funeral service will follow at the funeral home at 1 p.m., officiated by Monsignor Henchell of St Maximillian Kolbe Church.

A military service and interment will take place in the spring at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in South Portland.

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