William A. (Bill) Griffeth was born at home in Cushing, Okla. on Sept. 10, 1940. Bill was raised on his family dairy farm, the Griffeth Dairy, by his loving parents Jessie Anderson- Griffeth and Wilbur F. (Bill) Griffeth, along with his sister Ginger Griffeth-Barton. A fiercely harder worker since birth, the average day could be described by an early morning wake-up call, where he would roll out of bed to land on a cold wood floor. He would hustle to put on his chore-clothes in front of the Deerborn heater before he hurried to the concrete porch where his Redwing boots were waiting. While his parents were already well into milking the cows, he would feed the beef calves and collect the eggs of the laying hens before running down the dirt driveway to catch the school bus, which would take him to Harmony school. Bill started high school in 1955, where he played football, basketball and was an FFA member. Because of his background, Bill took a special interest in livestock showing and evaluation. The lessons learned at home and in the various competitive engagements propelled Bill to further his education. Bill enrolled at Oklahoma A&M in 1958, where he majored in Animal Science. Determined to make his family proud, Bill lived in the school chicken house and worked his way through school. While at OSU, Bill was a member of the 1961 champion livestock judging team, who won the International Livestock Judging Contest in Chicago. In 1962, upon graduating from OSU, Bill reached a pivotal point in life—earning his first job. Bill was hired by Wilson Packing Company as a hog buyer. Here, he utilized his knowledge of sound livestock to learn the industry side of livestock marketing. He reached the conclusion that livestock marketing was the career path for him. He then took another key step: moving to the Oklahoma National Stockyards, where he met his wife of 58 years, Karen Coit. He also met another important person, Tom Gilliam, who has grown to play a major role in Bill’s business endeavors.
In 1970, Tom and Bill started an order buying business. They cultivated this business, until 1987, when they expanded to purchasing Stockman Livestock Marketing and Order Buying and Stockman Livestock Commission Company. The two made another leap of faith in 1988, and purchased the market at Apache, Okla. A true agriculturist, Bill’s professional journey can be summarized by this core principle: do what is right, even if it’s not convenient for you. Bill set an incredible example to those who knew him by walking in the footsteps of history while blazing his own trail all in one stride. Personally, Bill was a strong Christ-follower. He was dedicated first to his Heavenly Father, then to his family. Together, he and Karen had three children: Kim Griffeth-Walters. Greg Griffeth, and Shelley Griffeth-Grellner. As a husband and father, Griffeth was honest but fair, and extremely wise. He was a man of few words, but he meant everything he said. Bill also had another special title: PawPaw. Kim and her husband John Walters have two children: Corbin Walters, married to Lainie Lawson-Walters, and Hadley Walters. Greg and his wife Katrina Barlow-Griffeth have two children: Amarie Griffeth and Georgia Griffeth. Shelley and her husband Randy Grellner have two children: Austin Grellner, engaged to Kirsta Simpson, and Jacob Grellner. He instilled in each grandchild a love for family, farming, and golf. Together, MawMaw, Karen, and PawPaw built a family who love to be together, from family golf scrambles to Branson trips. With each child and grandchild, he had an intentional and special relationship. He will be dearly missed.
Visitation will be held Tuesday December 29, 2020 at Matthews Funeral Home from 1:00 until 8:00 p.m. Services will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Edmond at 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday December 30, 2020 with a Graveside Service at 2:00 p.m. at Euchee Valley Memorial Park in Cushing, Oklahoma.