Bob Griffin, 74

Bob Griffin, 74, of Hayden, died on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, at his home.

Bob was born on Jan. 11, 1940, in Spokane, Wash., to George and Audrey Griffin. He lived in Lewiston as a young child. His family relocated to Coeur d'Alene where he finished out grade school at Winton Elementary, and graduated from Coeur d'Alene High School in 1958. Bob then attended North Idaho Junior College followed by the University of Idaho, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1963.

Shortly thereafter, Bob went to work for NASA-Ames Research Center in the Silicon Valley. He served on the development team for the Apollo 11 mission - man's first landing on the moon.

While living in California, Bob met his future wife, Nadine, at a dance class. They married in 1967 and moved back to Coeur d'Alene in 1972. He continued his engineering career working for the naval base located in Bayview, receiving a Navy service award in 1977. He later worked for Hewlett-Packard (which became Agilent Technologies) retiring in 2001.

Bob was a scientist at heart with intelligence and a sense of humor beyond compare. He jokingly told his children that when he died, he wanted his obituary to read that his molecular biology had ceased.

Bob was about 9 or 10 years old when his uncle Phillip, a train engineer with Northern Pacific, let him operate a train from Lewiston to Kendrick. This experience sparked a fascination for steam locomotives that lasted his entire life and led him to build his own mini steam locomotive, a long-time project that was nearly complete at the time of his death.

Bob could usually be found enjoying jazz and classical music, or listening to NPR. He loved anything having to do with philosophy, art, literature, Einstein, the cosmos, and brain science. In his young adulthood, Bob became an amazing black and white photographer, later building his own darkroom. He was a whiz when it came to fixing cars, or anything for that matter.

When his children were young and would ask him for help with math or science homework, Bob usually launched into long lectures on physics, aero-dynamics, or quantum mechanics - to no avail; their eyes would glaze over as they momentarily lost consciousness.

Bob's carpentry skills allowed him to completely remodel his own home, something his family always treasured. It seemed Bob knew a little something about everything, which made it enjoyable to be in his company.

Bob is survived by his wife, Nadine, of 47 years; children Valdine and Mike Landry of Veradale, Jim and Sun-Cha Gilbert of San Jose, Pam Calomeni and Marty Byle of Ann Arbor, David and Laura Gilbert of Dalton Gardens, Cathy and Don Roland of Rathdrum, Bobby and Brenda Griffin of Coeur d'Alene, and Janet (Griffin) and Pat Pace of Coeur d'Alene. He had numerous grandchildren, great- grandchildren and cousins.

Bob was a fascinating and generous man, a "character" many would say. Most importantly he was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and dog owner. Being in his presence seemed to put people at ease. Words cannot describe how much he was loved and will be missed.

A private memorial will be held at his home. Memorial donations can be made in Bob's name to the Kootenai Humane Society (www.kootenaihumanesociety.com/donate/).