LEWISTON – J. Robert Griffith, 79, of Gray, died suddenly on Saturday, Sept. 22, at Central Maine Medical Center.

He was born in Auburn, on July 26, 1928, the son of the late John G. Griffith and the late Eunice (Strout) Griffith Lawrence.

Growing up in Lewiston, he left high school early to enter the Army. He served three years in Japan as a member of the U.S. Army Occupation Force. After his discharge, he completed a course of study at Portland Junior College, and was later admitted to Bates College; the college he dreamed of attending since he was 12 years old. An avid reader and student, he graduated from Bates in 1954 with a degree in sociology.

After college, he embarked on a vocational journey dedicating his life to working with youth. Starting in Brooklyn, N.Y., he held various positions in YMCAs in New York state, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. He became the youth coordinator of the Greater New York City Youth Program and the resident YMCA camp director in Pennsylvania.

After his service with the YMCA, he was selected as the youth coordinator for Needham, Mass., and later he became the executive director of the drug abuse and treatment program in Springfield, Mass.

In 1982, while working full time in a major Boston hospital psychiatric unit, he attended Boston University, where he was awarded a master’s degree in social work. He then accepted the position of child welfare director for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Social Services Department and retired in 1994 as the supervisor of the South Shore Investigative Unit.

An avid reader, outdoorsman, fisherman, trap shooter, and swimmer, he also enjoyed sports, classical music and politics. He was a member of the Amateur Trapshooting Association, the Trapshooting Hall of Fame, and the National Rifle Association.

The father of the late Robin Kelley of Wilmington, Del., he is survived by his sister, Mrs. Dorothy LaCasse of Centerville, Mass.; his former wife, Ms. Elaine Brilanstone of Newtonville, Mass.; five nieces; a nephew; nine great-nieces and nephews; 11 great-great-nieces, nephews; and his faithful four-footed companion, K.G.