William Crawford Griffiths

William Crawford Griffiths died Saturday October 18th 2020, in the comfort of his Tiverton home of 49 years, in the loving care of his wife Linda and son Colin, after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer’s. The son of George and Sarah Crawford Griffiths, Bill was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on November 1939. He is predeceased by his sister Florence Jones.

Bill earned a full scholarship to Providence College, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Chemistry. A devout, lifelong Catholic, William was proud to have taken the same divinity coursework required of his peers entering the priesthood. Later, he would share his religious values teaching catechism in Fall River and coaching baseball for St. Louis parish in the Fall River CYO league.

After earning a Phd in Organic Chemistry at PC, Bill spent a post-doctoral year at Ohio State studying carbohydrate chemistry. In 1969, he was a new hire at Rhode Island Hospital, where he met Linda Ayer, finding in her a mate who loved science, food and laughing as much as he did. They were married for 52 years.

Bill went on to become Director of the Medical Laboratory at Roger Williams Medical Center and was a Clinical Instructor at Brown University Medical School. He shared his love of chemistry teaching students at Providence College and later at Bishop Stang High School. His final job was as Director of East Side Clinical laboratory. His work on the executive board of the Association of Clinical Scientists allowed him and his family to travel all over the US and abroad. Bill, an avid sailor, would reward his PC chemistry lab assistants with a sail aboard his vessel the Pendragon. He was awarded the prestigious Clinical Scientist of the Year Award in 1990.

Bill’s passion for basketball led him to teach it  and coach youth in the Tiverton Basketball League. He also coached an AAU boys team and an AAU girls team.

He is survived by his wife Linda and by their two sons, Robert and Colin, who both share his love of travel, golden retrievers, and science.

Visiting hours are on Friday, October 23rd from 4-8 pm at Auclair’s Funeral Home in Fall River, MA.

Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, October 24th at St. Theresa Church in Tiverton, RI.

Meet directly at Church. Online condolences at AuclairFuneralHome.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his honor to Southcoast VNA Hospice program at www.southcoastvna.org, or the Alzheimer’s Association.