GRIFFITH, Mary Lou

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Friday, April 22, 2005 Mary Lou (Ruffner) Griffith, born in Prescott on March 14,1913, died in her home in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 7, 2005. Private graveside services in the family plot at Mountain View Cemetery, Prescott, will be held at a later date. Mary Lou will share the grave of her infant daughter, Katherine. Born into an Arizona pioneer family, Mrs. Griffith's mother was Mary Ethelyn Ward Ruffner, the first public school music teacher in the Arizona Territory. Her father was Lester Lee Ruffner, mortician and civic leader in the territory and the state of Arizona. Her brother, who also preceded her in death, was Lester Ward "Budge" Ruffner, Arizona historian and author, and also a mortician. Mary Lou Griffith was a graduate of Prescott High School, and after attending business college in Chicago, she returned to Prescott and was employed in the Prescott Justice Court. Upon accepting employment with the United Verde Mining Company, she moved to Clarkdale where she spent many years as the payroll and utilities manager for the company. United Verde holdings included the first mining claims filed in the Verde Valley of Arizona in 1876 by her great uncle, Morris Andres Ruffner. His mining activity preceded the founding of the town of Jerome, which later came under the jurisdiction George S. Ruffner, as sheriff of Yavapa County. Griffith's employers after she moved to Albuquerque in the early 1950's included U.S. Fidelity and Guarantee and the University of New Mexico Press. Mrs Griffith was preceded in death by her husband, Amos Griffith, a Pearl Harbor survivor of WWII. Her survivors include her sister-in-law, Elisabeth Ruffner; nieces, Melissa and Rebecca and nephew, George (Eunice Ganteaume), all of Prescott and eight grand and four greatgrand nieces and nephews.