GREENSBORO:William Thomas “Bill” Griffin, age 43 of Greensboro, known for his dedication to the athletic training profession, love of family, and amazing sense of humor, chose to rest from his struggle with cancer on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013 at Moses Cone Hospital. Born on Halloween, October 31, 1969, Bill was a treat to the large extended family who welcomed him to their Cleveland, Ohio home. Parents Karen and Earl Griffin and sisters Cathy Rosenthal and Patty Choe formed a tight-knit bond and continued to support him throughout their lives. After his father passed, Bill was blessed with a second dad, Mike Leslie, as well as step-siblings Theresa Shamaa, Mary Margaret Dickinson, and Tony and Matthew Leslie. His numerous and loving family includes aunts and uncles Jim and Sandy Griffin, Margaret and Bob Laskey, Joan Rothermel, Tom and Alice Cannell and innumerable cousins and second cousins. A 1988 graduate of Benedictine High School in Cleveland, Ohio, Bill received his undergraduate degree in Physical Education in 1992 from Cleveland State University.
Bill and his wife Sue met at Kent State University during their Masters programs. The first night they met, Bill asked Sue out, but then asked if she would mind postponing their date about three hours until he got back from working at a high school football game. She waited. And thus began their relationship as Athletic Trainer and Wife, spanning two states and twenty-one years of covering sporting events. He was a well-known figure at the ACC tournament every year, where he worked just a little harder to make sure that Duke beat Carolina.
Bill not only treated injured players, but also tirelessly advocated for the rights and responsibilities of athletic trainers both on and off the field, serving as past President of the North Carolina Athletic Trainers Association and on the Governmental Affairs Committee of the National Athletic Trainers Association. In 2011, he successfully lobbied the North Carolina legislature to pass the Gfeller-Waller Concussion Awareness Act, ensuring that high school athletes could safely return to play after sustaining concussion. Bill was awarded the NATA’s Distinguished Athletic Trainer Service Award and was presented with the very first NCATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award.
Throughout his time at Ohio Physical Therapy, Lutheran Hospital, HealthSouth and Greensboro Orthopaedics, Bill was known as a caring professional and a hard worker, but he will also be remembered for his tremendous sense of humor and ability to liven up any office or playing field. He and his son Riley loved to spend time together watching Duke basketball and Ohio State football and learning about WWII history. Bill also enjoyed mountain biking and adventure racing. He particularly relished the annual Griffin-Leslie family reunion every summer during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Festivities in Canton, Ohio. Accordingly, a celebration of Bill’s life will be held the weekend of August 3, 2013 for Ohio friends and relatives.
Memorial donations may be made to either:
College fund for Riley Griffin at PNC Bank, 615 Green Valley Road, Greensboro, NC 27408 or
The AT NC PAC, Attn: Mark White 4201 Stonehenge Road, Greensboro, NC 27406.
Visitation will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at Forbis & Dick Guilford Chapel, 5926 W. Friendly Avenue, Greensboro. A funeral mass will be held Thursday, April 4 at 10:00 am at Our Lady of Grace Church, 201 S. Chapman Street, Greensboro , immediately followed by a service at Westminster Gardens Cemetery, 3601 Whitehurst Road, Greensboro.
Forbis and Dick Funeral Service Guilford Chapel is assisting the Griffin family. Online condolences can be made at www.forbisanddick.com
