Portsmouth has been blessed to have Ruth Griffin, who passed away a few days ago at age 99. Here I wish to offer some memories in addition to the excellent stories that have been written about her.
I first met Ruth in 1968, and we served together in the N.H. Legislature throughout the 1970s. When I didn’t run for reelection to the State Senate in 1984, she did. She was easy to work with all those years. It didn’t matter which political party you belonged to because for her, people needed help.
Jim Splaine
Three years ago, Billy Gardner and I walked into Ruth’s home carrying video equipment. As Secretary of State, he got to know her very well. One of his jobs at the State House was to be secretary for the Executive Council, on which Ruth served for two decades.
Gardner’s job included managing the state’s Archives in Concord. It’s a large, strongly constructed building that houses literally millions of books, documents, paintings, antiques, recordings, and other treasures dating back more than 400 years. He has created video interviews with prominent political, business, and organization leaders to save their words for history and future researchers.He asked me to set up a video session with Ruth Griffin, so on a sunny, coolish day she was ready for our arrival. First was a tour of her home visited through the years by many office-seekers looking for support from one of the state’s most important political notables. Pictures of her family and friends were everywhere, making the room cozy and warm by itself.
The room became even more cozy as Ruth spent three hours with us ready to talk about everything. She described her adventures, many of which took her to local government, where she served on the Portsmouth School Board and Police Commission. Then to the higher levels of state government − first being elected to the 400-member N.H. State House of Representatives, then to the 24-member State Senate, and finally to the 5-member Executive Council, which oversees and approves, or not, many actions of the Governor.
It was a special pleasure hearing from this woman who spoke with enthusiasm, optimism, and a smile, about many of the political personalities she told us about. And of course the several Republican National Conventions she attended.
In everything she said, and in all she has done, what seemed especially important to her was to be helpful to people through her service to them in healthcare, education, and her years of being on the Portsmouth Housing Authority. If she was tired at the end of our interview, she didn’t show it. Her talk with us was an excellent history lesson about Portsmouth, our state, and what’s important in life. She cared about people, and that is why she was so loved.
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, and that is what will be appreciated by many of those who shared a moment with her.
A special meeting: On a very early snowy morning in 1980, George H.W. Bush was sitting alone at a table in the rear of the State House cafeteria. He was a candidate in the N.H. First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary. I walked in from my Senate office just around the corner and said hello, introducing myself. He invited me to sit, saying he was waiting for Ruth Griffin. We only engaged in small talk − I don’t even remember what − I didn’t think he had a chance to win. Anyway, when she arrived a few minutes later, he stood with the biggest smile, and got a tight hug. I left, a bit jealous of him.
Ruth Griffin of Portsmouth holds Victoria, a two-week-old lamb, at her small farm family on Richards Avenue.
Go to Cspan to see Ruth Griffin talking about the 1968 N.H. Presidential Primary: https://www.c-span.org/search/basic/?query=ruth+griffin
Next time: The Seacoast Ombudsman Is Ready For Use.
On video: Former Mayor Bob Lister and PHS Students interviewed Ruth Griffin as a Portsmouth 400th Anniversary project. It is being edited and will be available soon at the library. The state Archives video is in process of being included in a compilation of notable N.H. political figures.
Variously since 1969, Jim Splaine has been New Hampshire state senator for six years, representative for 24 years, Police Commission and School Board member, Portsmouth assistant mayor for 12 years and city councilor for 18 years. He can be reached at jimsplaineportsmouthnh@gmail.com
More: Ruth Lewin Griffin lived ‘one hell of a life.’ Tributes pour in for Portsmouth icon.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Splaine: The reasons people in Portsmouth and NH loved Ruth Griffin
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Publish date : 2024-08-15 22:01:00
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