RAYMOND JOHN GRIGGS

GOLDEN CITY- Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Daniel Funeral Home in Lamar for Raymond John Griggs, 78, Golden City, who died Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, at Mercy Hospital in Joplin. Burial will follow in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Golden City.

A visitation will be held prior to the service, beginning at 1 p.m.

Condolences may be shared at www.dfhlamar.com.

Survivors include his wife, Colene; four daughters, Catherine Denise Jurgensen and husband Rick, Cynthia Vista Griggs and Gregory Tindle, Helen Burec-Brown and Tammy Cox; two sons, Michael Burec and Travey Burec; 18 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and two sisters, Mary Lou Ames and Carol Roberts.

He was preceded in death by one sister, Dorothy Rae Graham and two brothers-in-law, Richard Ames and Walter Roberts.

Mr. Griggs was born April 9, 1945, in Kansas City, Mo., to Raymond Hugh Griggs and Lillian C. (McKibben) Griggs. He was a 1963 graduate of Paseo High School. He married Jenelle “Colene” Smith on April 1, 1998, in Kansas City, Mo.

He retired as a commercial printer at Pro Print in Kansas City, Mo. Upon his retirement in 2005 he and his wife moved to Golden City. In retirement, they would set up booths at local festivals. Mr. Griggs would make handmade jewelry and wood ornaments for the yard. He was well known for a turtle yard ornament that he created out of spoons, forks and knives. He was referred to as the "Turtle Man."

He loved the outdoors, you could often find him in his garden harvesting or the nearest river bank fishing. He loved baseball. He enjoyed watching the Kansas City Royals and his granddaughters softball team.