Janice Patterson Griffith
Janice Patterson Griffith passed away at home in Winslow on Dec. 26, 2019. She was born in Canon City, Colo., on May 9, 1948, to Everett and Betty Patterson.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Historic Hubbell Building, the home of the Chamber of Commerce, located at 523 W. Second St. in Winslow.
The family moved to Winslow in 1954 and Janice’s love for the high desert and reading led her to discover Arizona Highways magazines and Arizona history. She graduated from Winslow High School in 1966 and started a family.
Janice became the director of the Old Trails museum in 1985 and immediately set her sights on the renewal of downtown Winslow after the interstate highway system bypassed small towns all across the nation. Janice initiated an effort to save the famed Fred Harvey La Posada Hotel, which had been designed by Mary Colter and built in 1930. The Santa Fe Railroad was set on either selling the building and grounds or bringing the wrecking balls in to tear it down as they had done to the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque.
Over a period of eight years she worked to save the grounds and to get La Posada on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Once this was accomplished it guaranteed the preservation of this landmark, which has become a tremendous historical and economic asset to the community.
Janice led the development to create a Standin’ on the Corner Park after a fire took down the building where the park is today. She helped form the Standing on the Corner Foundation and the park has become a tourist destination for many Eagles fans and those who want to experience the lure of Route 66. Every day of the year you will see people from all over the world standing on the corner and taking a picture with the statue called Easy! In her associations she was a steady voice for the improvement of Winslow. She is proof that one person can make a difference.
Janice was honored in 2003 when she became a charter member of the Arizona Historical Society’s Culture Keeper program for her dedication to the preservation of history and culture in the state.
She was named Winslow’s “Citizen of the Year” in 1997. She served on numerous committees including the Prescott Historical Preservation Commission and the Winslow Chamber of Commerce. She was a member of the Arizona Historical Society and founding member and president of the La Posada Foundation.
Janice is survived by her husband Art Griffith; her sons, Patrick Lancaster of Phoenix and Barry Lancaster of Seattle; sisters, Diane Patterson and Jonee Bockelman of Winslow; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister, Helen Blondell.
Greer’s Mortuary of Winslow handled the arrangements.
