Robert Peter Griffiths

Robert Porter Griffiths was born to Hope and Bonar Griffiths in 1938 and raised in Ohio where he lived until graduating from Oberlin College in 1961. He fulfilled his military duty by becoming a Commissioned Officer (USNR) serving from 1961 until 1965. In 1965, he married Betty Harrington. They had one son Ronald who lives with his wife Alexis in Flagstaff, AZ. After being together 50 years, Betty died of pancreatic cancer in 2014. Two years later he met and later married Mandy Cole who brought love, companionship, laughter, and balance to his life. He completed a master’s degree in biology at San Jose State University in 1968 and a PhD in microbiology at Oregon State in 1972. At OSU, he spent roughly half his career in the Department of Microbiology as a Marine Microbiologist and the other half as a Forest Soils Microbiologist in the Forest Science Department. He did this while supporting himself and his research team primarily through Federal grants. He was a keen international traveler spending time in over 30 countries in South and Central America, Africa, Asia, Europe and conducted oceanographic research in both Arctic and Antarctic waters. He greatly enjoyed running rivers with friends calculating he had rafted and canoed approximately 5,000 miles on multiday camping trips. He also enjoyed motorcycling, chamber music, literature, gardening, cooking, photography, landscape design, entertaining friends and exploring interesting ideas in science and philosophy. He felt amazingly lucky to have lived a life full of exploration and adventure, while living where he wanted, pursuing a career he enjoyed and experienced being married to two amazing but very different women. He and Betty remained in Corvallis largely the result of an agreement they made after completing advanced degrees in their chosen fields at OSU. In the early 1970s, it was assumed that after finishing your degree you would follow your career wherever it might take you. They decided to remain in Corvallis even though he had offers of academic positions in Virginia, Nebraska, and Southern California. His was a life lived without serious regrets. There will be a public memorial service held on Saturday October 21st 2 PM at the First Presbyterian Church, 114 WS 8th Street.

Robert Peter Griffiths

June 30, 1938 - September 20, 2023