FALMOUTH — Ralph Warren Griffith, 85, of Falmouth, died Feb. 25 at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough after a gallant fight against COPD.

He was born Jan. 27, 1931, in Minersville, Pennsylvania, to Marion (Barnhart) and Ralph Griffith.

He attended local schools and graduated in 1952 from Penn State University with a bachelor’s in liberal arts. Griffith was and ROTC captain and was tapped for Skull and Bones.

After PSU he entered the Army reserves at Camp Gordon, Georgia and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, receiving a commission as second lieutenant in the signal corps.

In 1953, Griffith was assigned to Berlin, serving with the Allied General Staff and promoted to first lieutenant. In the summer of 1953 he was loaned to British headquarters at the Olympic Stadium.

Griffith started working at Scott Paper Co. in 1954. He was promoted multiple times and transferred to locations across the country. While on a business trip from Maine to Boston, he met his future wife, Carol Ashton, whom he married in 1975. He ended his career at the S.D. Warren research laboratory in Westbrook after more than 37 years in the business.

Grifffith’s love of travel and adventure took him to New Zealand, Australia, Alaska and China. One of his favorite vacations was renting two condos in Vermont in August to include his daughters and their families. He and his wife spent their winters first in Arizona, then in recent years, in Florida.

Griffith was a Freemason and belonged to the NRA, The National Republican Association and the VFW. He will be remembered for his generosity and readiness to help others. He was especially fond of his role as “Big Teacher” to a very special refugee family from Vietnam. His warm sense of humor and devilish love of jokes and puns endeared him to many. He was also a ravenous reader, passionate about history, a football fanatic, a nature lover and a force to be reckoned with when it involved politics.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years; daughters from a previous marriage,   Jennifer Griffith and Amy Hart;  grandchildren Jane, Johnathan, Jason, Audrey and Julia, all of Massachusetts; as well as a large, extended family.

The family wishes to thank Griffith’s caregivers, his doctors and the staff at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House.

A private celebration of his life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, 11 Hunnewell Rd., Scarborough, ME 04074, or First United Methodist Church, 102 Sunbury St., Minersville, PA 17954.

Griffith