James Harold Griggs, Sr.

James H. (Jim) Griggs, 87, died Tuesday, November 16, 2010 in a local care center. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 20th at First Baptist Church Chapel with Dr. Phil Christopher officiating. Burial will follow in Elmwood Memorial Park, directed by Elliott-Hamil Funeral Home, 542 Hickory.

Mr. Griggs was born in DeQueen, Arkansas and graduated from high school there. He married Mickie (Mildred) Backman in 1944 when he, a Marine, was stationed in San Diego. During World War II, he served in the 6th Marine Infantry Division in the South Pacific theater and was discharged in 1946.

In 1950 he was graduated from the University of Arkansas and from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY in 1961. He was a church business manager and educational director for over 18 years, seven of them at First Baptist Church, Abilene. For 20 years he was employed by State Farm Insurance Companies, retiring in 1988.

He then organized ABA Social Ministries which he directed and served as Board chairman for 15 years, retiring in 2004. He served 17 years on the Board, three as chairman, of Abilene Girls Home, later known as Harmony Family Services. He served as Board chairman and long time member of FBC deacons and as member of Hendrick Home for Children's Development Council. He was a Board member of Abilene Boys Ranch, Pastoral Care and Counseling Center and the Food Bank of Abilene where he was Board chairman and interim Executive Director. He was a long time member of the Kiwanis Club of Abilene where he served in 1966 as president and received the 1976 Kiwanian of the Year award. He was named in 1990 the Lay Person of the Year by the Abilene Baptist Association. In 1996 he received the Governor's Volunteer Leadership Award. In 2002, Jim was named the Outstanding Service Award Recipient by the Mental Health Association for his work with the Abilene Baptist Association's Social Ministries--the ministry he began in 1989. In April 2004 he was the recipient of Abilene's Jefferson Award for Community Service.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife, Mickie Griggs; his parents, James and Violet (Jamison) Griggs; and his two sisters, Mary Robertson and Jewel Ward. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, James H. Griggs, Jr. and Michelle; daughter and son-in-law, Judith and Dr. Jerry Cotton; and three great-grandchildren, Amy Griggs, Dr. Andrew Griggs and Micah Cotton