Monica Dorothy Griffin
Monica Dorothy Griffin passed away peacefully in her home after a long battle with kidney disease on November 2, 2020. She was 92. She was born in Dubuque, Iowa on January 24, 1928 and was the fourth of seven children born to Monica (Schroeder) and Victor Joseph Breitbach. She loved growing up in Balltown, Iowa surrounded by her extended family. After receiving a bachelor of science degree in Biology and Chemistry from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, she supervised laboratories for Aramco in Saudi Arabia and Iran. In Saudi Arabia she met the love of her life Patrick E. Griffin Sr. They raised their five children in Texas, Washington, California and Puerto Rico, before his premature death in 1974. Following his death, she moved back to Dubuque, Iowa where she took on the monumental task of raising five children as a single parent. She worked as a medical technologist in laboratories in Iowa and later in Houston at Baylor College of Medicine.
In her lifetime, she traveled to every continent except Australia. After retirement, she did extensive traveling with her close companion James Cox. She was also involved in her church, Christ The Good Shepherd Catholic Church, where she served as president of the 55 Plus group. She loved spending time with her friends from 55 Plus and planning cruises and parties for the group. She also enjoyed dominating at card games, watching sports and spending time with her children and grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Patrick E Griffin Sr, brothers Victor Joseph, William “Billy” and Tom Breitbach and sister Eulalia “Lollie” Ferris.
Monica is survived by her children, Bridget Johnson (Randy), Monica Griffin (Kevin), Shauna Griffin, Moya Griffin (Phil), and Patrick Griffin (Adrianne); and grandchildren Brianna, Mikaela and Natasha Johnson; Colin, Patrick and Monica “Victoria” Gaffney; Amanda Kincaid, Brian and Stephanie Castillo; Kael and Christian Knudson; and Dylan, Patrick “Edward”, and Joshua Griffin; and sisters Margaret “Honey” Hefel and Mary Jane Lange.
The family would like to thank the staff at Champions Dialysis, particularly Henry, and the doctors at North Houston Nephrology, especially Dr Gene Forrester, for their compassionate care.