Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9409230109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Griffith, 37, was killed Sunday when a suspected shoplifter shot him in the head with his own service revolver, which the man had wrestled from Griffith during a struggle.
Griffith, a 17-year veteran of the force, is the first Christiansburg police officer killed in the line of duty.
The funeral was held at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, just yards from where two deputies shot and killed Griffith's slayer.
The church was selected because it was the biggest in Christiansburg, but more than an hour before the service, all the pews were filled.
An overflow crowd gathered outside to listen to the service from speakers, while inside, Christiansburg officers took turns standing guard at either end of Griffith's flag-draped casket.
The turnout for Griffith's funeral - and community gestures since Monday - were a testament to a deeply religious man who "was genuinely concerned about young people" and "has touched so many lives," said Eddie Booth, pastor of the Moores Chapel Baptist Church, which Griffith and his family attended.
Flags have been at half-staff; citizens have worn ribbons of either black or red, white and blue; and signs throughout town urged people to remember Griffith. Two accounts have been established at First National Bank for memorial donations. One account is for contributions to a youth center under construction at Griffith's church that will be named after him. Another account is earmarked as a family fund.
"Throughout the community, I've never seen so much response," Booth said. It wasn't too long ago, Booth said, that Griffith told him what he wished to be said should Booth conduct his funeral.
"You preach my funeral, you just tell them straight what life is all about," Booth recalled Griffith telling him. Booth honored his request, urging officers and others to take stock of their lives and realize they, too, could face death at any time.
"Terry was faithful to God. ... Christ was the center of his life," Booth told the mourners.
Hours before he was shot, Griffith was at Sunday morning services at Moores Chapel. He asked Booth to pray for a friend of his, then told the preacher he wouldn't be at the evening service because he had to work.
Little did he know, Booth said, that he would be carrying out Griffith's wishes so soon.
"Lord, we're going to miss him something awful. We already do," Booth prayed.
At graveside services at Sunset Cemetery, Christiansburg officers were flanked by hundreds of officers and community members, many of whom walked from cars that lined South Franklin Street for several blocks.
The Christiansburg Police Department's color guard presented the state and American flags and six officers served as pallbearers, leading the way for Griffith's family to the burial site.
Chief Ron Lemons presented Diane Griffith, the officer's widow, the folded American flag that had draped Griffith's casket. "Taps" was played as family members offered her and the Griffiths' children support.
Among the many departments represented at the funeral was Princeton, W.Va. - the hometown of Samuel Jerome Patterson, Griffith's killer.
by CNB