Donald J. Griffin, 82,  formerly of Chicago & LaGrange; beloved partner of Maggie Naylor; loving father of Mary (Don) Decker, Eileen (the late David) Barbour, & Paul (Suzanne) Griffin; proud grandfather of Scarlet, Sloane, Shay, & Spencer Decker and Jake & Genevieve Griffin; dear brother of Jack Griffin & the late Peggy Griffin; dear cousin of the Madler family. Visitation 3 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 13 at Hallowell & James Funeral Home, 1025 W. 55^th St., Countryside. Interment private.

Don was born September 11, 1936 and grew up on the south side of Chicago.  He attended Little Flower Grade School and graduated from De La Salle High School in 1954. He then attended Quincy College and graduated from Roosevelt University. He went to work for Wolf and Company as an Accountant where he passed the Illinois CPA exam and worked extensively on the audits of Jockey and Fannie May Candy and remained a loyal customer of both for his entire life. In the 70’s he opened his own firm and remained an active sole practitioner until the age of 81. At the age of 79 he passed a three-part IRS test to become a federally licensed Enrolled Agent.

Don was married to the late Marie Griffin from 1962 until the late seventies and their 3 children and  6 grandchildren were the joy of his life.

Don was always an avid hunter, and for years traveled to Southern Illinois each fall to stay with dear friends Frank and Marge Supergan, who had a goose hunt club. Don also hunted deer in the fall and turkeys in the spring on their beautiful property, and introduced his son Paul to hunting. He was lucky to travel to northern Canada for a caribou hunt, and to Texas to hunt snow geese. Don became expert at both cooking and smoking game, and his smoked venison was always considered a great treat by his guests.

He lived in a high rise with a view of Lake Michigan for many years, and was noted for his fourth of July parties with fireworks seeming to burst just outside his windows.

He was a treasured partner of Maggie Naylor for the last 38 years of his life and was active in the life of her son Chris, and so became grandfather again to Chris and Angie’s three children Cecelia, Eliot and Audrey. Don and Maggie took many trips to Europe where Don’s ability to drive stick shift and courage on the autobahn and the narrow roads of Italy allowed them to explore many small towns in Germany, Italy and France. He took German lessons in his 50’s and 60’s and was able to converse when travelling to his mother’s home town of Dusseldorf. He also took several cooking classes and music appreciation classes at the Latin School in his later years and enjoyed trying out new recipes and attending concerts at Symphony Center and the College of DuPage near his last home in Downers Grove. He also honored his German heritage by seeing all of the Wagner operas at Lyric Opera which can be quite a challenge as some run up to 5 hours long!

Don was a fan of the Bears and the White Sox, though he did tolerate cheering for the Cubs at Wrigley Field occasionally, and Maggie did the same for his team. He loved White Fence Farm chicken, drives to country flea markets, trips to Maryland, Ohio, New England and California, and when his triplet grandaughters all graduated from college on the same day in three different states was able to make it from a morning ceremony at Bradley to an evening one at Miami of Ohio – at the age of 79, he was forgiven for missing the midday Purdue ceremony.

Don died peacefully in the home he shared with Maggie in Downers Grove on Wednesday, February 6, 2019.

Funeral info: (708) 352-6500