Griffin Alan Day's Obituary
Griffin Alan Day was born on September 6, 1985, in Longview, Texas, and for 36 years, he lived big. Big guy, big smile, big laugh, big presence, big hugs, big heart.
All this bigness was memorable. He possessed personality in spades. Strangers didn’t exist in his sphere. There was a softness to him: kind, friendly, warm. His humor made people feel lighter, and his care lightened their load. His love was heavy on action. He was accepting. A brother to oh so many. If he was into something, he was all in—full tilt. And if he was present with you, you felt a one-of-a-kind effervescence. With him, what you saw was what you got. He kept people on their toes, and usually in stitches. He was more old school and old soul than met the eye. And if one of his people needed him, he was there.
He grew up attending Longview ISD and Mobberly Baptist Church, where he ended up on the youth leadership team and played guitar in the praise band. He was an offensive lineman for the Longview Lobos, played paintball, fished, and was never happier than when he was surrounded by and goofing off with family and friends. He graduated from Longview High School in 2004.
Griffin was drawn to a variety of interests and gigs, but the common theme was always a desire to tangibly help ease a fellow human’s load. Over the years he managed a medical supply shop and worked at Longview Regional helping disadvantaged families pay their medical bills. He also received his cosmetology license from Kilgore College and spent years cutting hair (which we all know means he was a therapist). For the past seven years, he worked at Longview Community Ministries, one of the oldest and largest food pantries and assistance providers in East Texas. His affection for LCM’s regular clients and volunteers ran deep, and this work brought him great joy.
If you knew Griffin, you knew he was colorful, unique, and far from a by-the-book sort of character. But you also knew he was about something bigger. His faith was practical, strong, and authentic. Nature was church. His bass boat was his happy place—a sacred hobby that transcended the thrill of a bite or a competitive weigh-in. Time on the water was soulful, honing the art of a just-right presentation was meditative, and casting a line meant connecting with God’s creation.
And boy, did he love a bargain. Nothing lit him up like a yellow clearance tag at Academy. The man appreciated a good deal to no end, and Facebook Marketplace won’t be the same without this buy-and-sell wheeler-dealer. He was always after his latest steal and generally ‘up to something.’ His mind endlessly noodled on a new idea, a way to fix what was broken, or a practical process he could tinker with to improve.
He was a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy and found a hearty dose of peace in the last few years of his life—on the lake, with a guitar in his hands, day-to-day at LCM, and with his ‘sweet baby Kate.’
He reconnected with Kate Gronewald in his final years, and they were married at Lake Hamilton in Arkansas on July 27, 2020. He loved to tell people how they met in the Mobberly Avenue Baptist Church nursery and got in trouble kissing behind the bookshelf in Sunday School when they were three. They were together in his final moments, at home, the morning of Saturday, June 25, 2022. It was the very thing that defined him that gave out in the end: his big ol’ heart.
In addition to his beloved wife, Kate Day, survivors include: mother, Brenda Ann Bevis (husband, Gordon); his father, Gary Alan Day (wife, Carol), all of Longview, Texas; his brother, Garrett Alan Day (wife, Rachel) of Dallas, Texas; and numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins. He was especially close to his cousin Ben Day, of Tyler, Texas. His in-laws, Dennis and Jan Gronewald, of Longview, Texas, thought the world of him, as did his sister-in-law Joy Redmond (husband, Joe), and niece, Eva Redmond, all of Santa Clarita, California. Griff’s longtime friends, fishing buddies, and connections are too many to count.
He loved God’s creatures, especially the four-legged ones: His trusty English bulldog companion, Charles Day, preceded him in death in 2021. He now leaves behind a pack of devoted four-legged girls, big and small: Lark, Janie, and Indy.
The family invites you to a collective remembrance of his life at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 9, at Woodland Hills Baptist Church in Longview, Texas. In lieu of flowers, he would sure grin over donations to Longview Community Ministries or Austin Bulldog Rescue. Private cremation arrangements are under the care of Rader Funeral Home.
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