Herbert Daniel Giffin

Herbert Daniel Giffin passed away today at Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, OK following a brief illness. He was predeceased by his parents, Glenn and Claudia Giffin, and is survived by his wife, Diana, brother Harald, sister Cheryl, and children Nicole, Kalysta, Brianne, Zack, Jackie, April, David, Krystal, Daniel, and Billy, and dozens of other young men and women who looked up to him. He was a grandfather to more children than he could count without taking off his socks to use both his fingers and his toes.

Herb’s life was defined by family – the one he was born into and the one he made for himself. He believed in “concocting” family dinner, and could just as easily throw the bread at you as pass it to you. He opened his doors to anyone who needed a place to stay, and always had a joke – usually at your expense. If he liked you, he probably gave you a nickname; mine was Beatrice.

Herb lived a life some would envy: on the move, on his own terms, on the edge of good sense. He worked as a prison guard, the head zookeeper at Giffin’s Game Farm, an entrepreneur, an over-the-road trucker, and volunteered as a fireman and EMT. He saved lives and he delivered babies, he built the most elaborate Halloween haunted house, and he drove over two million miles before he was fifty.

The family will hold a memorial service for friends and family in Clare, NY later in the spring; details will be shared closer to the date.

 

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