PORTSMOUTH — Name a hat − it’s likely that Ruth Griffin wore it.
New Hampshire Executive Councilor. Republican National Committeewoman. Mother. Grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. Nurse. Caretaker of sheep. State Representative. State Senator. Portsmouth Housing Authority chairperson. Portsmouth School Board and Police Commission member. Beekeeper. Portsmouth High School cheerleader. Nature enthusiast. Owner of Griffin’s Half-Acre Farm. The list goes on.
For her five children, Griffin’s larger-than-life persona was defined by her tenacity, her love for people, her fearlessness, her ability to relate to anyone she encountered and her devotion to her family.
“She was active every moment. Every time she knew there was something that needed to be done or could be done, she got involved,” said her daughter, Joan Griffin.
“She was tough, demanding and a taskmaster. You did what you were told. We tried to get away with as much as we could,” her son Michael Griffin said with a laugh.
Ruth Griffin died peacefully at home on Saturday, Aug. 10, surrounded by family. She had celebrated her 99th birthday on July 9 with cakes from Popovers On the Square and a small group of guests. Prior to being brought back home, a final wish of hers, she had been residing for a time at Wentworth Senior Living in Portsmouth.
A black crepe with a purple ribbon has been hung from the front door of the longtime Griffin residence on Richards Avenue to signify the icon’s death and the family’s mourning period.
A home filled with love, family and sheep
Three of Griffin’s children welcomed a reporter into her home on Monday to share stories, photographs of Griffin dating back to her teenage years, and to pick peaches off their mother’s tree as sheep bleated in the background.
“She was very generous at the end to make sure she said, ‘I love you’ and tell you how special you were. She said, ‘My beautiful Joyce, I love you,’” a tearful Joyce Griffin stated of her mother’s final days. “She always made sure I heard that, every time I saw her.”
The family moved into their Richards Avenue home, known affectionately as Half-Acre Farm, in 1964. There, Griffin, her husband of 50 years, John, and their five children - Joan, John, Michael, Joyce and Timothy - became a part of the fabric of Portsmouth and the Granite State.
From the time her children were young, friends, family and political hopefuls flowed in and out of the Griffin household, as did the sheep the family kept on their property.
“She loved her politics, and she loved being active and knowing all the movers and shakers, but how many sheep did she bring up inside this house? She used to feed them with milk bottles and then put them out in the yard,” Joan Griffin said.
“She would adopt the bum lamb,” Joyce Griffin added.
At home, she repeated a mantra frequently: She would live her life “by the courage of my convictions,” her children said. Griffin encouraged her kids to make music, run for class office at Portsmouth High School, her alma mater, and tag along for a lifetime of political events, bringing them up close to people like Coretta Scott King and Frank Sinatra.
"She danced at every Republican's inaugural ball since Reagan," Joan Griffin said.
Inside Griffin’s home is a framed drawing of several chickens and geese that reads: “We go as a group - or we don’t go.”
From nursing to politics
Ruth Griffin, née Lewin, was born in 1925 to her father, Perez Otis Lewin, and mother, Mae Bailey Lewin, who died of stomach cancer when Griffin was 13. That same year, she and her family moved to Portsmouth from Fall River, Massachusetts as Perez Otis Lewin worked for Public Service of New Hampshire and helped operate the former Daniel Street power station along the Piscataqua River.
Griffin graduated from Portsmouth High School and became a nurse. As a student, she went to the New Hampshire Hospital in Concord for training, where a colleague taught her to knit. It became one of her lifelong passions.
At the time of her death, Griffin left one project unfinished - a pair of green fingerless gloves she was knitting.
New Hampshire Gov. Walter Peterson Jr. encouraged Griffin to enter politics, Joan Griffin said. It led to a lifetime in public service.
A friend she made in the city was Evelyn Marconi, another Portsmouth Republican fixture and founder of Geno's Chowder & Sandwich Shop, who died in 2018.
Marconi’s daughter, Portsmouth Police Commissioner Francesca Fernald, mourned Griffin’s passing.
“She has always been a part of my life as far as I can remember. She was my mother’s dear, dear friend and like a second mother to me,” Fernald said Monday.
Fernald would make pizzelles for Griffin and drop off raspberry lime rickey sodas at her house. She expressed gratitude for Griffin’s counsel when Fernald’s baby was born premature.
“Her knowledge of the state and its history was amazing,” Fernald added. “I loved to sit and listen to her and my mom talk about everyone and everything. I have a picture of them both hanging in the restaurant. They used to sit at the small table by the counter and give me all kinds of advice on what I was doing right and especially what I was doing wrong.”
Another daughter of another Portsmouth political legend is grieving.
“Despite our political differences, my mother and I always loved and respected Ruth Griffin,” said Mary Carey Foley, daughter of late eight-term Portsmouth mayor Eileen Foley. “Since I lost my mother, she would always pull me aside to tell me what a great daughter I had been to Eileen. Then she would give me a huge Ruth Griffin hug. I will miss those hugs.”
“You represented the best of Portsmouth and did so at the highest levels of government,” current Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern said in part in a statement. “There will be much said about you and your service, but on behalf of Portsmouth, I wanted to say thank you for all you’ve done on behalf of all of us. You will be missed but your legacy lives on.”
'Ruthie always stayed true to her convictions'
There have been only a few people that could refer to Griffin as “Ruthie,” according to her children. It was a select honor reserved for Gov. Chris Sununu, former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, and Ted Connors, the former “boy mayor” of Portsmouth and fellow housing advocate who died last summer at the age of 86.
If you didn’t have permission to call her by the nickname but chose to anyway, Griffin would let you hear it, her children remember.
“Ruthie always stayed true to her convictions and had a legendary approach to constituent service across her district,” Sununu said in a statement Monday. "She took every phone call and attended every event. What made her so special is that her commitment never wavered even after she left office. She was genuine in her love of other people and her community, and it showed.”
If you wanted to win votes as a Republican in New Hampshire, you sought Griffin's endorsem*nt.
Such was the case for New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. Senator representing New Hampshire and the state’s former attorney general. Ayotte is vying to succeed Sununu as governor and received an endorsem*nt from Griffin in January.
In a statement following Griffin’s passing, Ayotte said, “I am forever grateful for Ruth’s wisdom and mentorship, and I will miss her dearly.”
“Ruth Griffin was a trailblazer and a true treasure of New Hampshire,” Ayotte added. “She embodied the spirit of public service that makes New Hampshire exceptional."
Griffin's support was sought by presidential candidates during the first-in-the-nation primary.
In 2008, two days prior to the New Hampshire presidential primary featuring a crowded field of Republicans, she introduced her candidate of choice, then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, at a campaign event in Windham alongside actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris. A member of the band Capitol Offense, Huckabee later sent Griffin his electric guitar as a gift.
On Sunday, John Kasich, a former U.S. House of Representative from Ohio and Griffin’s choice in the 2016 Republican presidential nomination race, called to offer his condolences to her family.
The Griffin home is filled with political relics, souvenirs from past candidates’ campaigns and keepsakes from former lawmakers. She held on to hats supporting former President Richard Nixon, in addition to buttons, brochures, pamphlets and more.
The late Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee for president in 2008, sent her a saguaro cactus.
“She gave him hell. She was like, ‘You’re sending me a cactus? What am I, a prickly person?’” She was mad at him. I still have the cactus,” Joyce Griffin said.
Former New Hampshire governor and U.S. Senator Judd Gregg and his family gifted the Griffins a pot that read: “Ruth Griffin is not the governor, but she runs the state.”
“Ruth had an irresistible enthusiasm for Portsmouth, Rockingham County and the State of New Hampshire,” Gregg said in a statement. “Her commitment and advocacy led to innumerable initiatives that made our area a great place to live, raise a family and work. During my tenure in government, over 32 years, Ruth was always there to give me advice, guidance and numerous ‘firmly stated’ helpful hints. She was one of the finest public servants and community leaders of our time. Kathy and I were fortunate to have her as a friend and counselor.”
Former state legislator and six-time assistant mayor of Portsmouth Jim Splaine served with Griffin in the state House of Representatives, then she took his place in the New Hampshire Senate.
When she sat on the Executive Council, Griffin and Splaine collaborated on the transition of Pease Air Force Base into today's thriving Tradeport through the Pease Development Authority.
“Ruth Griffin was a wonderful leader locally and statewide, always finding ways to make government work for the needs of people,” Splaine said. “She was a powerful Republican, but worked well with Democrats because she knew that government works best when politics is put aside. When you talked with her, even in a crowd, she had the unique ability to make you feel that no one else but you mattered to her at that moment.”
When Ruth Griffin spoke, people listened
Photographs of Griffin with George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and former President Gerald Ford are scattered around her home, just three of the many politicians she rubbed elbows with in her storied lifetime.
“If you had a Republican president today, that person would be changing their plans to come to Portsmouth today,” former city attorney Robert Sullivan said Monday about Griffin’s death.
Sullivan recalled many City Council meetings where Griffin would enter the back of the chambers during a discussion and the councilors would pause their conversation and turn their attention to her.
She was arguably the most important person in the entire Seacoast during her time on the Executive Council, Sullivan said. He likened her presence to EF Hutton: When Griffin spoke, people listened.
“I knew Ruth for 40 years and had a great deal of contact with her and all of her various roles that she held in local and state government,” Sullivan said. “She was always very kind and friendly to me. I did have the privilege really of getting to visit her in her living room in that white house where the sheep are. When you went into that room, you really felt like you were entering the pope’s den or something. It was amazing.”
The first time former city mayor and Portsmouth superintendent of schools Robert Lister met Griffin, he was asking her to work with high school students for a project. When he approached her doorstep, she was baking chocolate chip cookies, which she invited him in to taste.
Last year, alongside Portsmouth High School students, Lister interviewed Griffin as part of the 400th anniversary celebrations. That conversation is being edited and will be available for viewing at the Portsmouth Public Library in the future.
“She was very outspoken and was an advocate for the city," Lister said. "I think it’s one of the reasons she was so popular. She had a presence with her. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, she had a lot of respect for a lot of people. That’s one of the reasons she was so prominent in the community.”
Congressional Democrats offer praise for Republican icon
Messages of support for Griffin’s family are pouring in locally, from across the state and from the nation’s capital from members of New Hampshire’s all-Democratic congressional delegation.
“Ruth was a pillar of the Portsmouth community,” said U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. “Her long record of public service is a model for many serving in office today.”
“(I’m) saddened to hear of the passing of Ruth Griffin, who dedicated her life in service of our state,” added U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan. “In her more than 40 years of service, Ruth championed effective, responsive government and served her constituents fiercely and faithfully.”
“Sending my deepest sympathies to the family of Ruth Griffin,” U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas said. “A trailblazing public servant and a pillar of her community, Ruth Griffin will be deeply missed and remembered for her lasting contributions to Portsmouth and all of New Hampshire.”
Griffin served as the “den mother” for the local Cub Scout group for her son, Michael, that included Jack Blalock, former city mayor. Her impact on Blalock spanned far beyond his childhood.
“Ruth was amazing and always so graceful,” Jack Blalock said. “She was so generous with her time, kind and helpful whenever anyone needed her. She is one of the reasons why I wanted to get involved in public service.”
Blalock’s son, Rich Blalock, now serves on the nine-member City Council. He played football with Griffin’s grandson and recently coached Griffin’s great-grandson in Little League, and noted his admiration for Griffin’s “strength, work ethic, and community values” which “run strong in her family.”
“She was always very proud of her family, community and country. She cared about everyone and made a large impact on all. My father reminds me how much my grandfather, Dick Blalock, respected her. She was a role model for both my father and myself,” Rich Blalock said. “We both learned a lot from Ruth. We will dearly miss her.”
Ruth Lewin Griffin Place workforce housing
Housing affordability and accessibility was paramount for Griffin.
Up until four years ago, Griffin served as chairperson of the Portsmouth Housing Authority’s board of directors. In 2022, the housing authority’s Ruth Lewin Griffin Place workforce housing apartments opened on Court Street, with Griffin in attendance.
Former Portsmouth Mayor Tom Ferrini is the Portsmouth Housing Authority’s current chairperson. He met Griffin as an adolescent through his friendship with her youngest son, Timothy.
Running the board’s meetings under parliamentary procedural guidelines, Griffin would let all stakeholders comment before looking to put a bow on the matter at hand. Ferrini said she would ask, “Are all the bees back in the hive?”
“She was an outstanding public servant,” he said. “She had the ability to relate to people regardless of their social station. She had considerable compassion and real concern and ability to solve people’s problems when she could … Heck, she was a legend 30 years ago, or more. She was very good at politics and working both sides of the aisle and getting things done. She could make people feel comfortable and knew how to solve problems. She was an old school public servant and believed in the common good.”
Griffin served as a maternal influence for Tammy Joslyn, a fellow housing and social services advocate and the executive director for Operation Blessing in Portsmouth.
“She would go and be anybody’s cheerleader, address them, encourage them, and share hope. She never really told them the depths of her story but gave little bits and pieces. I wish she wrote a book,” Joslyn said.
“We’re losing the greatest generation here and we’ve got to step it up," Joslyn said. "We’ve got shoes to fill.”
Craig Welch, the Portsmouth Housing Authority’s executive director and a friend and longtime colleague to Griffin, assessed her death bluntly: “We’ve lost a great one.”
“I think that unconditionally, she had faith in the dignity of all people, no matter their status in life, no matter where they came from,” he said. “A lot of people haven’t felt that before. She gave people something different. She insisted on having faith, and at least here in the Portsmouth Housing Authority, the culture we had here was really formed by her. It was to put our residents first and to give them the dignity and faith and trust that they deserved and has often been very scarce in their lives.”
In her final months, Griffin’s children provided her with drives to Seacoast beaches, coffee frappes, bowls of peppermint stick ice cream, nightly viewings of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Family Feud.
Griffin drove up until she was 97 years old, her children reported. They resorted to hiding her keys, though Griffin would find them and take her car for a spin.
Her open-door policy was well-documented - literally. Griffin allowed visitors most hours every day and kept a guest book in her residence for people to sign in and out of.
“She would say, ‘If the red car is in the backyard, come in the back door,’” Joan Griffin said.
At Portsmouth's 400th anniversary parade
Fourteen months prior to her death, Griffin sat in the front of a Volkswagen bus during Portsmouth’s quadricentennial parade, a who’s who of city figures stretching back decades that drew thousands to Market Square and the surrounding downtown streets.
Participants of the June 2023 parade lined up on a street abutting the parade route prior to the step off. Before the march began and the roughly 1,400 participants headed into town, however, many lined up in front of the Volkswagen’s passenger window, shaking hands and greeting Griffin, an old friend to many who’ve loved and lived in Portsmouth.
Despite decades in public life, Griffin was humbled by the number of conversations and catch-ups before the anniversary parade, a sentiment she expressed in an interview moments before the city celebrated 400 years of history.
“I’m just absolutely dumbfounded that so many people seem to remember me,” Griffin told a reporter at the time.
Pushing her 3-month-old grandson, Carter, in a stroller on Monday afternoon, Anne Seekins stopped in front of the Griffin home’s driveway to show her grandson the sheep.
Seekins' family has known Griffin for years, as her grandfather, the late Portsmouth resident Charles Dale, was a former Republican New Hampshire governor. As a student at Little Harbour School years prior, Seekins would visit Griffin’s sheep herself.
“It’s like the end of the old guard,” Seekins said of Griffin’s death. “There’s a lot of new people who are good, and I think the character will remain in town.”
“She did craft herself one hell of a life, there's no question about that,” Joan Griffin said of her mother on Monday. “She really did.”
A celebration of life for Griffin will be held in the fall at a date to be determined. Her burial will be held in a private ceremony for family, according to her children.
More:Ruth Griffin dies at 99, a legend in NH and Portsmouth for public service
