Cecil Griffin

CAIRO, Ill. -- Cecil Griffin, 49, of Cairo died Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, at his home.

He was born Oct. 10, 1954, in Sumner, Miss., son of Jimmy and Lenora Thomas Griffin. He married Delores Box.

Griffin attended John F. Kennedy High School in Mound Bayou, Miss. He had worked at Wagner Castings Co., The Herald and Review and Domino's Pizza.

He moved to St. Paul, Minn., where he joined Covenant of Life Rural Outreach Ministries. He later moved to Cairo and was affiliated with Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church.

Griffin served in the U.S. Army.

Survivors include his wife; three daughters, Kenosha Griffin of Decatur, Ill., Wonderful Griffin of Ripley, Tenn., Latasha Lay of Memphis, Tenn.; three sons, Monty Honorable, Delphi Honorable and Marcus Davis, all of Decatur; three stepchildren, Nivia, Keisha and Michael Box, all of Cairo.

Also surviving are five brothers, Willie Winters and Jimmy Griffin of Mound Bayou, Horace Griffin and David Mullins of St. Paul, Dewayne Mullins of Memphis; four sisters, Flora Nelson and Henrietta Harris of St. Paul, Peggy Mullins of Memphis, Lillie Thompson of Mound Bayou; 14 grandchildren; and nine stepgrandchildren.

Friends may call at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home in Cairo from 5 to 7 p.m. today, and Saturday from 11 a.m. until service time at Mount Moriah Church.

The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church, with Bishop Paul Jones officiating. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Cemetery at Mounds, Ill.