Obituary of Gerald Thomas Griswold
Gerald Thomas Griswold.
Morro Bay, California – October 1940 – May 2025.
– Gerald Thomas Griswold, known to family and friends as Gerry, passed peacefully with his wife, daughter, and granddaughter by his side at home in Morro Bay on May 1, 2025. He was born in October 1940, in Hanford, California, a gift to two loving and wonderful parents, Harold and Lois Griswold, and older brother, Galen. He grew up on his family’s ranch and attended Pioneer Elementary and Hanford High schools.
He later attended College of the Sequoias in Visalia and Fresno State where he majored in Chemistry. While still in school he began service in the Air National Guard Reserves as a jet mechanic and medic. After graduation he went on to work for a short time in Martinsville, Virginia, for DuPont but then later returned to his roots in Hanford where he worked for Pirelli Armstrong Tire Company as a rubber chemist until his retirement.
Not long after he returned from the East Coast he met and married his first wife and had a daughter, Cassie. Though the marriage was not meant to last, his first wife brought with her into the relationship three young children who will forever call him DAD. He later met and married the love of his life, Karen, whom he knew from high school, who brought with her into the fold two of her own children.
Gerry was passionate about knowing how things worked, fixing and building throughout his life. It most likely started when he was a young child, and he accidentally ran the family tractor into a tree. His dad basically told him he broke it, go fix it, and left him to his devices to do so. Later in the early 60’s when the family ranch was slowly becoming a walnut farm his dad wanted him to build a walnut picker and that’s exactly what he did.
Using parts from other machinery found on the ranch and some purchased parts, his was the first walnut picker in use in Kings County. Gerry could always be found in his garage tinkering on his many projects, whether it was rebuilding engines, fixing clocks, building golf clubs, welding or woodworking a new creation of his own. If he wasn’t in his garage he could be found stopping by friends’ garages to see their projects and lend a hand.
When Gerry wasn’t in the garage, you could find him on the golf course, a passion he developed in his early years that became as much a part of him as breathing in his retirement years. Golfing upwards of 3 or more times a week being a part of both the Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo County Golf Clubs, winning Club Champion in 2022 in the San Luis Obispo group. In fact, after winning he donated his time, talent, and walnut wood from the ranch to create a new base for the Club Champion perpetual trophy.
Gerry is survived by his wife, Karen Griswold, his children, Cassie Trzcinski (Vince), Keli Winchester (Bill), Leigh Madamba (Celena), Gayle Pullen (John), Barbara Boyer, 10 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren, his brother, Galen Griswold, and family. A memorial service will be held on June 21, 2025, at the Estero Bay United Methodist Church in Morro Bay, California, at 2 p.m. A graveside service will be held at a future time at the Grangeville Cemetery in Armona, California. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Morro Bay Golf Club High School Scholarship Fund with checks payable to MBGC HS Scholarship Fund.
In the care of Blue Sky Cremations in Atascadero.
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