Harriet Griffin, age 89, of Tower City, ND, died Friday, December 20th at PAM Rehab Hospital in Fargo, ND. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, December 30th at the Lerud Mathias Funeral Home Chapel in Valley City. Visitation will be held one hour before the service at the funeral home. Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Tower City, ND. An online guestbook and livestream of Harriet’s service will be available at www.lerudmathias.com.
Harriet Esther Keys was born on August 23, 1935, in Nome, ND, the daughter of Earl and Clara (Ward) Keys. The following year the family moved to a farm near Tower City. Harriet attended country school and graduated from Tower City High School in 1953. She went on to graduate from St. Lukes School of Nursing in Fargo in 1956 as a registered nurse. She married James Griffin on January 1, 1957, in the First Presbyterian Church in Tower City. The couple operated a grain and dairy farm near Tower City. Harriet worked at the Sheyenne Care Center for 33 years. Harriet’s first day at the Care Center was Clara’s last day. She continued to stay in touch with many of her co-workers from that time. Harriet was always willing to lend support to community activities and organizations. She was active in the Presbyterian Church, spent many years as a leader in the Towerettes 4-H club, acted as the township assessor, and taught CPR classes. Harriet enjoyed researching family history on the Keys and Griffin sides of the family. She was a voracious reader, a gardener, and a great lover and savior of many generations of cats. Harriet was happy to make and share her apple crisp. She stayed in touch with family and friends every day and enjoyed all the phone calls.
Harriet is survived by three daughters, Judith (Dwight) Krueger, Sheldon, ND; Susan (Jim) Swenson, Middleton, WI, and Brenda Matteson, Fargo, ND, four grandchildren, Anna and Kyle Swenson and Lindsey and Ashlyn Allan, nephews Jerry, Ron, and Alan Keys, Don, Bob, and Dick Stringer, Alan and Jim Griffin, and nieces Marsha Holden, Mary Cockerill, Nancy
Aldrich, and Marsha Wauson.
She was preceded in death by her husband James, her parents, two brothers, David and Philip Keys, sisters-in-law Miriam Grieger and Dorothy Stringer, brothers-in-law George Stringer and Donald Griffin, niece Debbie Griffin, and nephew Dale Stringer.