Allie Christeen Griffin June 16, 1926 – March 3, 2017

Funeral Service Friday, March 10, 2017, at 10am  Mulkey-Bowles-Montgomery Funeral Home, 705 N. Locust, Denton, Texas 76201

Visitation: Thursday, March 9, 2017 from 6pm to 8pm at the funeral home .

Allie Christeen Griffin was born June 16, 1926 to William Earl Griffin and Allie Vollie Bailey in Denton County, Texas. She was born into a hard-working, close-knit family. Life was difficult. Her daddy was killed in a work-related accident when Chris was five years old. She and her sister, Mae, were left without a dad. Their mother washed and ironed clothes for folks in the area and, after William's death, she had the help of grandparents to take care of the girls.

Consequently, Chris grew up living in her grandparents' house near Aubrey. Though difficult, their young lives were happy and enjoyable. They faithfully attended New Hope Baptist Church in Denton County. It was there that Chris asked Jesus to be her Savior and was baptized at Lake Dallas shortly thereafter. The sisters were very close all their childhood. They visited family all the time and spent lots of time with double cousins. Mary Evelyn has been a close cousin for many, many years. Even into their adult years, Chris visited her only sister and her cousins regularly.

As a child, Chris enjoyed school, picked cotton in the Texas heat, and graduated after eleventh grade. (They only had eleven grades in the early forties.) Her mother died of cancer when Chris was only nineteen years old. She went to live at a boarding house in town (here in Denton) and worked at the power and light company for many years. Bernice Wardlaw, a dear friend since high school, worked there, too.

Chris met Calvin and they started dating when he began to take meals at the boarding house where Chris was living. Calvin had been in the Navy and just gotten out after World War II. They met in the summer of 1946 and married November 27 of the same year. Chris worked while Calvin finished college. After graduation, they moved to Tyler, Texas for work at the airport and had their first child, Gary Calvin, in 1952. Shortly thereafter, they moved back to Fort Worth for work at Meacham Field, and then on to Farmers Branch where Kimberly Christeen was born in 1959. A short time later, they moved to Carrollton which was home for the next fifty-two years. She and Calvin had a loving and devoted marriage for fifty-six years. Calvin passed away at 78 in 2002.

Chris ( Mom , Nanny ) had a servant's heart. She sought ways to help others and always wanted to give. She often refused help – even to the end – not wanting to be a burden to anybody.

Valwood Park Baptist Church was an integral part of Chris's life over that half-century in Carrollton. She loved her Sunday School class and monthly class meetings.

Family was so important to Chris. She and her sister, Mae, were close her entire life. Mae's son, Don, and daughter, Chrissy, have always enjoyed a warm and sweet relationship with Aunt Chris.

Chris and Calvin had seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. They enjoyed traveling all over the US and going to their Texas grandkids' ball games and cheer events. Chris also hosted big get-togethers for both her side of the family and the Ellis side of the family every year for Christmas. That was a tradition for many, many years. She was so glad when Gary and Karen took over that hosting after the grandkids were grown. Gary and Karen were a great source of blessing to her, and Karen still is. What a wonderful daughter-in-law Karen has been to Chris.

Chris held a job at the Carrollton Public Library for many years after Gary and Kim were married and on their own. She thoroughly enjoyed the environment there. She was also active at Carrollton's MetroCrest . The organization provided food for the needy and always appreciated volunteers to help get food ready for distribution.

Chris's favorite hobby was probably sewing. She made most of Kim's clothes while she was growing up and altered many clothes for Gary and Karen. She even made Kim's wedding dress. She was an excellent seamstress. Chris made receiving blankets for her grandchildren and for many others. She even made some blankets "ahead" to give to her grandkids when they had kids. She stored those in a suitcase and gave some as gifts after she had to quit sewing because she couldn't see well enough any more.

In 2010, after feeling it was no longer safe for her to live by herself in Carrollton, daughter-in-law Karen and granddaughter Jennifer encouraged her to relocate to Lewisville in an apartment closer to family. If she were to need something, they could get there more quickly with her living closer. After a year in the apartment
(and several trips to ER with high blood pressure and anxiety), her daughter and son-in-law, Kim and Keith, moved Mom to Nevada to live with them in their home.

The adjustment to leave her beloved Texas was tough, but she persevered and has lived in Pahrump, NV since 2011. She made some good friends in Pahrump and had excellent care right up to the end when she made her final move to her home in Heaven on March 3, 2017.

Chris is preceded in death by: her husband, Calvin, her son, Gary, and her sister Mae.

She is survived by: her daughter Kim (& Keith) Walker of Pahrump, NV and daughter-in-law Karen Ellis of Lake Dallas, TX; grandchildren: Jennifer (& Patrick) Nugent of Monument, CO; Kelly (& Jade) Burgoyne of Buda, TX; Nick Ellis of Irving, TX; Zachary (& Brenda) Walker of Las Vegas, NV; Katie Ellyn (& Justin) Myers of Anderson, CA; Caleb Walker of Pahrump, NV; and Lauri (& Sam) Rodriguez of Richland, WA. Nanny is also survived by nine great-grandchildren: Maddie, Andy, Emily, Clara, Eli, Tim, Ellis, Lucy & David.

The family and friends will miss her terribly but be thankful that she is in Heaven with her family who has gone before her. No more worries.