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- [S16] Obituary.
September 29, 1927 - July 30, 2016
Joseph Robert Vandergriff, 88, of Hixson, took wings and left this earth at 7:11 p.m. on July 30, 2016.
How much can one person suffer? How much can one person love life? He could not have lasted as long as he did if life and family had not been so precious to him. And yet Satan set out to steal, kill and destroy all that was good and precious. Is life precious after the age of 80? There are those who think not. He thought so.
Joe Vandergriff was in the U.S. Navy from 1944 until 1946. He signed up with his friend who failed the physical and he had to join the Navy alone. His tour took him from Chicago to the Great Lakes for 8 weeks of training. He came home for 9 days and then went to San Francisco and Shoemaker, California for additional training. He then returned to San Francisco and boarded the battleship Colorado where he spent one year. He then boarded the Boston, a heavy cruiser, and spent one more year. During his tour of duty he went to Hawaii (Pearl Harbor), the Phillippines, Ulithi Harbor, Okinawa and Tokyo. He was in Tokyo Bay when the peace treaty was signed there. He then went to Seattle and was discharged in Memphis in 1946. He entered the Navy and served his country proudly at the age of 17 (dad had to sign) and was discharged at 19 years old. Joe was supervisor at DuPont for 35 years where he served as Captain of the Fire Brigade. In 1985 he retired from DuPont and he began doing volunteer work for Human Services where he volunteered for 29 years distributing commodities to the less fortunate. He loved life and people and never met a stranger. If he met someone and could not remember their name he always addressed them as “captain.” He was an avid golfer where he hit a hole in one at Rivermont Golf and Country Club. Joe was also the first patient to ever use the new Cath Lab at Erlanger in 1976. He was interviewed by Mary Ellen Locher and his picture came out in the newspaper.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Nina and Claude Vandergriff who donated land for the construction of Friendship Baptist Church on Moses Road; brothers, Bill, Jack, Garnet and David Vandergriff; sisters, Audrey Payne, Margie Shipley and Lois Lewis; brother-in-law, Coy Price and sister-in-law, Ruth Price. Joe was the last sibling of this wonderful family.
He is survived by a devoted family who would have given their own lives for him, his precious wife of 70 years, Martha Jo; daughters, Shelia Sluder (James) and Barbara Creswell (Steve); grandson, Scott Hibberts (Shelley) and great grandson, Preston Joseph Hibberts.
Life will never be the same. We are greatly saddened by the loss of such a precious husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather who taught his family how to be courageous, noble and strong. He spent his final days at Memorial North Park Hospital, the Health Center at Standifer Place and Memorial Hospital.
Services will be held on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow at Hamilton Memorial Gardens. Visitation is Tuesday from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the funeral home.
Condolences and memories can be shared at www.williamsonandsons.com.
Arrangements are by Williamson and Sons Funeral Home, 8852 Dayton Pike, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379.
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1927 - 2016 (88 years)
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