Funeral services for Estelle May Griffis, 87, of Buna will be 2:00 pm Sunday at Farmer Funeral Home with interment following in Morse Cemetery in Buna. Visitation will begin at 5:00 pm Saturday at the funeral home.
Estelle was born March 16, 1919 at Perdido, Alabama to Charles Needom May and Mary Etta Wilson May. She and her family moved to Port Arthur when she was ten years old. Estelle became a member of the Pentecostal faith when she was fourteen years old and has served the Lord faithfully since that time.
Estelle met her husband, Nealy Griffis when she was fifteen at a church revival where she had gone to sing. They were married a year later on May 27, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas. She loved church and children and was a Sunday School teacher for many years. She was also a foster mother for many children, some with special needs.
Estelle is the mother of ten children. Three have preceded her in death. Her first, Alvin Jerrell lived only a day. Charles William and Nealy Jerome Griffis, both of Buna, also preceded her in death. Her parents and an infant brother, Japeth Richard May, her husband and two grandchildren, Matthew Arron Griffis and Jena Marie Griffis Medlin preceded her in death also.
She is survived by two sisters, Marie Fregia of Batson and Louise Kelley and husband Lee of Kingman, Arizona; seven children, Virginia Landry of Buna, Juanita Williams and husband Lamar of Woodville, Barbara Elliott of Pineland, David Griffis and wife Carolyn of Silsbee; Averine Pennington and husband Larry of Simonton, Tx; Howard Griffis and wife Shirley of Buna and Retha Smith and husband Leroy of Evadale. Estelle is also survived by twenty-seven grandchildren, fifty-six great grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.
In her early years, she owned and operated Griffis Grocery, located between Buna and Evadale. They traded the place for a small farm where she resided until her death. She was a stay at home mom until the children were grown when she began a career as a nurses aide, from which she retired. Estelle is a member of Jesus Name Apostolic Church in Evadale.
