Reva Griffith

Remembering Reva Griffith

There are many gatherings in which we will recall the memory of Reva Griffith. War protests, committee meet­ings, board meetings, book clubs, writing groups and the many other activities of concerned citizens come to mind. For many of us, however, we recall most vividly seeing her on First Day mornings in the Penn Valley meeting­house. Behind the short half-wall by the front door, Reva sat quietly with her hands folded in her lap. With most of a smile not yet faded, her eyes closed and shoulders re­laxed, she epitomized the mischievous solemnity that is at the heart of Quaker life.

Reva passed away on November 5, 2003. She had lived each of her seventy-seven years as a Quaker. Fifty-five of those years she shared with John, her husband. Together they raised four sons, Tim, Jon, Ben, and Christopher. She had six grandchildren and one great-grandson. She had a great abundance of friends in Penn Valley Monthly Meet­ing, in Iowa Yearly Meeting, in Kansas City, and beyond. Her voice, tender yet urgent, revealing a remnant of an­guish, resonated more powerfully on paper than in per­son. She wrote two books, one about her father and another about one of her sons. She wrote a burgeoning bouquet of poetry and shared it with her family and friends and with Penn Valley Meeting. Her writing was available in several publications including Friends' Journal. She made a home for her family and gave a lot of her time to issues of peace and justice. She worked tirelessly in opposing the death penalty, joining the Western Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty after the murder of her son, Christopher. She sup­ported reproductive freedom for women, working at Planned Parenthood from which she retired as Assistant Director.

Penn Valley members leaned on Reva. During the thirty years in which she was a member of Penn Valley, she held almost every position in the Meeting, including Clerk of the Meeting and editor of the Friendly Connection. She served on almost every committee. There are probably no tasks in the meetinghouse which she has not undertaken at some time. She brought a lot of food to meeting, and she enjoyed what the rest of us brought as well. She often spoke in First Day meetings, and she more often listened. She cared for us and she discovered the grace to allow us to care for her. She lived out her beliefs without being pi­ous. We miss her in First Day meetings and in our lives.

-Donnie Morehouse