Caroline A. Griffiths

Caroline Abrams Griffiths may have stood only 5 foot 3 inches tall, but “her strength and resiliency were readily apparent,” her family wrote. “She was that matriarch of the Griffiths family who could cook boiled cake or shift a manual vehicle better than anyone you may know.” 

Mrs. Griffiths, who died on Feb. 18 at the age of 91, raised seven children in Amagansett and “left a wealth of lessons and memories for her family and friends to enjoy,” they said. 

Born to Abner Morton King and the former Marietta Abrams on April 24, 1926, at the King family homestead on Old Montauk Highway in Amagansett, she was the youngest of 13 children. She attended the Amagansett School, but did not graduate from high school. 

She married “her first love,” James E. Griffiths of Amagansett and Babylon on Oct. 22, 1944, and together they raised six sons and a daughter at an Amagansett house on the same street where she was born. When her husband died of a heart attack in 1976, she took a job as a chambermaid at the Sea Crest Hotel to support herself and her youngest son. 

Although she never remarried, in 1992 she met Edward Welles. They remained a happy couple until his death in March 2007, her family said. Over the years, her family grew to include nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, to whom she was known as Granny Griff. 

Mrs. Griffiths died at her daughter’s, Caroline Kalish’s, house in Bridgehampton “with the love and support of her family,” and her longtime caretaker Eunice Nunus, who was known as Nicey, and her friend Nancy Jones.

She is survived by all seven of her children, Everett Griffiths of Sweden, Lyle Griffiths, John Griffiths, Clark Griffiths, Kerry Griffiths, and Tracy Griffiths of East Hampton, and Ms. Kalish.

A graveside service was held in February at Oak Grove Cemetery in Amagansett. Her family has suggested contributions to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978 or a charity of choice.