On Aug. 21, 2017, a Total Eclipse of the Sun soared across the middle of the United States and rolled right thru Nebraska, smack dab over the old family homestead of Bob Griffith! He said, “If you missed Woodstock you don’t want to miss, Cornstock!” So Aunt Gertie decided to crown Bob, “King of Cornstock!” A huge celebration befitting his new royal designation took place at the Griffith ranch & farm! Bob pulled out all the stops with bands, champagne, and more food than you could imagine! Aunt Gertie didn’t get to attend the coronation since I was plum out of bus fare!! Dang me!
Bob Griffith was born and raised on his family’s farm (he still owns it!) in Callaway, Nebraska. He went to a one room elementary school house and high school with 24 kids. One of which would become his wife. He went to the University of Nebraska and majored in Pharmacy, graduating in 1968.
In 1970, with $500 dollars in his pocket, two kids, a car he was still making payments on and wife, Eileen, Bob took a gamble and came to Seal Beach. He’d seen an ad for a drugstore and decided to give it a go. He bought the store and opened Bob’s Rexall in 1972, working hard to become successful. He also had a medical equipment business, home infusion and hospice operations in Signal Hill. By 2013 he’d sold them all to concentrate on other business ventures and enjoying life.
Bob holds six land speed records with a 1981 Camaro, at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. He loves motorcycles too and has some of them on display in his office building on Main Street. Down at Coast Highway and Main is his newest building. It is beautiful with a rotunda and staircase as you walk thru the doors on the corner. The lower level also has Doc’s Pies with delicious coffee and pies galore!
Bob and Eileen Griffith do lots of traveling and we are so glad they live here and enjoy life in Seal Beach, the Tiny Crown Jewel of the Southern California coastline.
Karen Hadley, creator of Aunt Gertie, can be reached by surface mail at Karen Hadley, PO Box 34, Seal Beach, CA 90740 or email at Yodelon@aol.com.
