John P. Griffin, O.S.A.

1906 – 1973 (September 25)

John Peter Griffin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 16, 1906, the son of Joseph Griffin and Anna Monahan. He was educated in Philadelphia and Conshohocken, and entered the Order at the age of 27 as a post graduate student in November, 1933. He was accepted into the novitiate in November of that year, and professed simple vows on September 10, 1934. His solemn profession took place on September 10, 1937. He studied both Theology and Economics in Washington, D.C., and was ordained to the priesthood in Washington on June 7, 1938.

From 1938 to 1955 Father Griffin served at Our Mother of Consolation Parish, Chestnut Hill. It was here that he began a long association with the Catholic Hospital Chaplain’s Association. He gained a wide and affirmative reputation throughout the area for his ministry to the sick.

In 1955 he was assigned to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Staten Island, New York. In ensuing years he was a member of the communities at Villanova; Saint Denis, Havertown; and Cambridge, New York. From 1967 he was assigned to our parishes in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, and Dania, Florida.
 
In 1968 he joined the community at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Parish in Jamaica, and shortly thereafter was stricken with cancer. He died at Philadelphia’s Episcopal Hospital on September 25, 1973. His Funeral was celebrated on Friday September 28 in the chapel of Saint Mary’s Hall, Villanova after which he was buried in the then adjacent cemetery. Subsequently, his remains were transferred to the Augustinian Plot at Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.

Father “Mike” Griffin, as he was known throughout the province, infirm for many years, was called to a vocation of suffering. Until 1967, when his health ameliorated, he served as acting or assistant chaplain at the number of hospitals where he was a patient. A warm and kindly man, he was greatly esteemed by the communities in which he lived.