GRIFFIN, Eunice Ardeth

Eunice Ardeth Griffin (nee Small)

1930-2025

Eunice passed away peacefully on May 13th 2025, at the age of 95 at St. Peter’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Eunice was an exceptional woman who lived a life filled with family, friends, and service but her life began in difficult circumstances. Eunice was born in 1930 on her parents homestead near Boulter Ontario. Six months later her mother Margaret Small (nee McLean) took ill and died, and because her father, Robert (Bob) Small, made his living as a hunting guide and logger Eunice, her sister Edith and brothers Roland and Harold had to be separated and cared for by extended family. When Eunice was 18 months old she was taken in by relatives of her mother, the Peever family, of Arnprior Ontario. At the age of 15 she was forced to leave the Peever home and found work at Kenwood Mills to support herself. She was grateful to find support and a home with her pastor , the Reverend and Mrs. Brynle Owen until she married three years later. Eunice met her future husband, Jack Griffin of Toronto, after an evening church service and they fell in love immediately. Within a week Jack proposed and Eunice gladly accepted. The couple agreed to Dad Owen’s counsel to wait a year, and they were married in the spring of 1948. Eunice had no greater ambition than to raise and cherish a family of her own, so for the following years they did just that, first in Arnprior, and several years later on the Ottawa River where they built a home and raised their 7 boys in the bucolic surroundings of Shirleys Bay. Throughout their youth the boys fished, swam and boated on the river while continually wandering through the wilds of “The Bay”. Eunice and Jack loved to entertain and always extended their hospitality to a wide range of friends among their many church affiliations and Jack’s scientific collegues from the Shirleys Bay Defence Research Board (DRB) laboratories. The invitation to “have a cup of tea” at the Griffin’s home always included varying levels of laughter, contemplation, spiritual council and engaged discussion. Eunice has been noted throughout her life as a person with an almost endless supply of engaging stories about her life experiences and spiritual discoveries. When she spoke to an individual or a room of people Eunice had the rare gift for weaving a rich and beautiful tapestry that gave each listener joy, comfort and spiritual counsel. Eunice loved God deeply and over her lifetime she initiated and led many Christian ministries and conferences. She was an inspiration and leader to many and was often sought for her wisdom and counsel. Eunice loved adventure and travel. She travelled with Jack in their trusty van all over North America crisscrossing Canada and the States numerous times meeting friends, family and strangers alike, sharing her life and serving the God she loved. Put it this way…. there was never a highway that Eunice didn’t like. After Jack’s retirement their motto seemed to be “Oh.. for the love of the open road and the thrill of automobiles”. When she decided to go she would briefly study the maps, pack up the van and then she and Jack would just hit the road. Even after Jack was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease (PSP), they drove from their home in Northern BC and toured Mexico. Eunice cared for Jack over the next 20 years and they continued travelling together until his death in 2005. As in life she had a firm belief that true happiness existed not simply in the destination but also within the journey itself. Jack and Eunice had homes for periods of time in Arnprior and Shirleys Bay Ontario, Hazelton BC, Sackville NB, and for a few years in Rae Edzo NWT. Eunice enjoyed her final years sharing her life and experiences with many new friends in her seniors apartment overlooking the beautiful Dundas Valley in Hamilton. We are grateful for the loving and compassionate care she received in her final months from Dr. Soloman, the Nurses, and the staff on the Palliative care team at St Peters Hospital in Hamilton. Eunice was predeceased by the love of her life Jack (2005) after being married for 57 years . She was also predeceased by her sons Patrick(1961) and Michael(2021), her sister Edith and brother Roland. She will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by her remaining sons Paul (Sharon), Daniel (Margaret), John(Sylvia), Brynle(Faith) and Timothy , as well as her 11 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren, Michael’s wife Linda, Eunice’s brother Harold and her many friends. “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”(Mathew 11:28), Eunice will be interred beside her husband and son Patrick at St Johns Kanata North Anglican Church cemetery, 325 Sandhill Rd. Kanata Ontario, K2K 2T7 on Friday July 25th, 2025 at 10:00a.m. All are welcome to attend. Eunice faithfully supported the ministry of Teen Challenge for most of her life and we would encourage any donations in her memory be sent to “teenchallenge.ca”.