Marjorie Griffin
Marjorie West Muldoon Doriani Griffin, 97, formerly of Prospect, peacefully went to be with her Lord on Wednesday morning, Feb. 3, 2021, at Concordia Lutheran Ministries in Cabot.
Born April 9, 1923, in Pittsburgh, she was the oldest daughter of Ralph W. Muldoon and Elizabeth Pardee Muldoon.
Marjorie moved to the Meadow Springs Farm, established by her parents near Prospect, when she was 5 years old, known today as Muldoon Estates off Unionville Road.
She attended a one-room schoolhouse in the area through the eighth grade.
Marjorie accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior at a young age. She enthusiastically and faithfully lived her life according to the Scripture in Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
She graduated from Butler High School in 1941, and during those years, was active in Christian Endeavor for young people, where she accepted a call to Christian missionary work.
She matriculated with honors from Geneva College in Beaver Falls. Upon graduation, she accepted a call from the Presbyterian Board of Missions (PCUSA) to do mission work in the mountains of Kentucky for two years, after which she completed a master’s degree from Biblical Theological Seminary in New York.
After her first marriage to the Rev. Max Doriani, she served the Lord as a pastor’s wife, Sunday school teacher, choir member, pianist, and supply preacher to numerous churches in and near Punxsutawney and East Smithfield, Pa. and North Carolina. She became an ordained minister in 1979 with the Disciples of Christ and upon her husband’s retirement, became the pastor of the East Smithfield Federated Church.
For nine years, she wrote a weekly column for the Towanda Daily Review. She enjoyed square dancing, music, reading and was an avid gardener.
She retired from full-time ministry in 1991, and relocated to Big Run, Pa., where she later became a part-time pastor at the Big Run Presbyterian Church.
At age 84, she retired from professional ministry and moved back to Prospect, in 2007. As a member of the Presbyterian Church of Prospect, she served as an elder, adult Sunday school teacher, pianist and choir member. She was a teacher and a member of the board of directors for the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Butler County. She was a Paul Harris Fellow member of the Portersville-Prospect Rotary Club, where she enjoyed playing the piano for weekly meetings.
She is survived by her children, the Rev. Paul (Linda) Doriani of Williamsport, the Rev. Dr. Daniel (Deborah) Doriani of St. Louis, Mo., and Christopher (Beth) Doriani of Chesapeake, Va.; 11 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren with a great- granddaughter coming in May; and her stepfamily, the Griffins.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband, Max Doriani, whom she married on May 30, 1949, and who passed away on Dec. 6, 2006; her second husband, Francis R. Griffin, whom she married Dec. 29, 2007, and who passed away Dec. 28, 2015; and her sister, Dorothy Frazier and her husband, David.
GRIFFIN — Visitation for Marjorie West Muldoon Doriani Griffin, who died Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Raisley Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 387 Main St., Prospect. COVID-19 guidelines will be in place.
Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Zion Cemetery, Reynoldsville.
A memorial service to celebrate Marjorie’s life is being planned by the family and will be held when it is safe to gather at The Presbyterian Church of Prospect.
Memorial contributions may be made to Geneva College, 3200 College Ave., Beaver Falls, PA 15010, or online at geneva.edu.
Please visit www.raisleyfuneralhome.com to leave an online tribute.
