Reva Rae Griffith Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Reva Rae Griffith was gathered to her people at her home in Cedaredge, Colorado, October 21, 2020, at the age of 83. A private graveside service will be held for the immediate family members on Friday afternoon, October 30, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. at the Cedaredge Cemetery. Taylor Funeral Home will be assisting with this service. The Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. at Covenant Hebraic Fellowship in Montrose, Colorado, with Butch Daniels presiding. The community is invited to attend this service. A fellowship meal for the family will follow hosted by the members of the congregation. Memorials in Reva’s name may be made to : 1) Joined to Hashem / P.O. Box 361 / Franklin, NC 28744 / Marked: “Israel” or 2) Hope West Hospice / 195 Stafford Lane / P.O. Box 24 / Delta, Colorado 81416. Reva Rae (Hiatt) Griffith was born on August 23, 1937 at the hospital in Sutton, Nebraska, to Everett Chester Hiatt and Dorothy Francis (Leonard) Hiatt. She was the oldest of their three children. Her brothers are Bruce Doyle Hiatt and Marc Randall Hiatt. In 1940, her Dad moved the family first to Eldorado, Nebraska. They later moved to Pocatello, Idaho. In 1942 they moved to Moscow, Idaho, where she says, “Daddy took another job – the oil branch of the Latah County Grain Growers – as their manager.” This is also where Reva began her schooling. After not too many years in Idaho, in 1946, the family moved back to a farm in eastern Colorado, Sedgwick County, 8 ½ miles South East of Sedgwick. In her journal she writes, “It was a wonderful place to grow up!” The folks lived at this farm until 1964. It was also during these tender years of elementary school when Reva gave her life to Yeshua/Jesus and said in her journal, “I had begun my Journey.” During Reva’s senior year of high school she decided to attend Kearney State Teacher’s School in Kearney, Nebraska. It was during these college years Reva met Dillard, better known as “Griff.” After a season of dating, Griff asked her parents for her hand, and the two were married on Sunday, May 26, 1957 at the Presbyterian Church in Sedgwick, Colorado. Dillard and Reva first settled in Kearney, Nebraska, in an apartment on 6th Avenue. In 1958 the young couple moved to Papillion, Nebraska, where Reva began teaching first graders while Dillard was completing medical school. In 1962 Griff and Reva adopted their first baby, Elizabeth Marie, through the Lutheran Service Society. In 1964 they adopted their second child, a son, David Andrew. After graduation from medical school and a one-year internship, in 1963 Dillard and Reva moved to Holyoke, Colorado, where a third child was born, a daughter, Suzanne Kay, and they lived there for five years. Another move was made to Columbia, Missouri, where Griff completed his three-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and their fourth child, Rebecca Rae was born. At the end of this period Dillard and Reva made the decision to move the family to Sandia Chico, Mexico to serve as medical missionaries. After only a nine-month stay the family had to move back to the states due to the passing of Dillard’s father, C.S. Griffith on March 8, 1972. The family spent a year in Broken Bow, Nebraska with Dillard’s Mother, Kathrine, helping to settle her affairs. Next a short year was spent in Arkansas near Reva’s cousins, Keith and June Ham. Yet another move took them back to the town of North Platte, Nebraska, where the family settled for the next 12 years, Dillard established a practice, and they were very active in their local congregation, Valley Christian Church. The three oldest children graduated from high school in this town. In 1984, after their third child graduated, a move again ensued. This time Griff and Reva settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where again Dillard established a medical practice and they lived for the next 14 years. They both continued to be very active in their local church, Mountain Shadows until they experienced a spiritual paradigm shift, and after a full year of classes they began to walk out a Torah-based life style to the best of their ability. Their fourth child graduated from high school while they remained in Colorado Springs. Their children began to marry, and Dillard’s retirement loomed on the horizon. After a trip to Israel, both Dillard and Reva agreed they were ready to make a move to the country! With his retirement sealed, the move was made to a “fixer-upper” ranch in Mitchell, Nebraska, near the western Nebraska border. This homestead truly became a labor of love for the retired couple! Complete with a creek, a windmill, and lots of potential, they set out to bring out the best of this place with the design and construction support of Dillard’s younger brother Walter Griffith. It was during this time the fullness of the grandchildren came in—14 to be exact! Additionally, Griff and Reva found another niche to fill, that of leading a Torah study both in their home as well as at the Torrington Wyoming Correctional Facility. Each of these endeavors, grandchildren, teaching a congregation as well as inmates the basics of Torah became a labor of love and brought much good fruit! Hosting fellow followers for the Fall Feast of Tabernacles became a festive celebration for several years! During these years at the Ranch Griff and Reva also celebrated a joyous 50th wedding anniversary that included all their children, grandchildren, and even Reva’s Mother, Dorothy Hiatt. In 2012, after 13 years at their beloved Avodah Ranch, Dillard and Reva felt compelled to again make a change to downsize due to their progressing ages. This was a difficult decision and a major sacrifice for them. However, once the auction took place in the Fall of 2012, they bravely packed their remaining belongings with the help of some of their previous students, now “graduated” as well as family members, and made a major move to the Western Slope of Colorado. It was while they were living in Cedaredge, Colorado they joined up with a local Messianic Congregation, Covenant Hebraic Fellowship, and more eternal friendships were built. In addition to celebrating the yearly appointed Feast Days, another trip to Israel was accomplished with friends from this congregation. Ten more years had passed, as well, and their 60th wedding anniversary was another major event celebrated! Reva Rae was a marvelous cook, an attentive hostess, an avid reader, a gardener, a terrific wife, a diligent and creative housekeeper, as well as a wonderful grandmother, devoted mother, a loving sister, a consistent letter-writer, and friend to so many people. While she ran on ahead of all of us to meet Yeshua/Jesus, she will be missed until we are reunited. Reva was preceded in death by her parents, Everett and Dorothy Hiatt. Reva is survived by her husband, Dillard Rae Griffith, and her brothers, Bruce (Carolyn) Hiatt and Marc (Teresa)Hiatt. Her children include: Elizabeth Marie Baraket of Thornton, Colorado; David (Kathy) Griffith of Kearney, Nebraska; Suzanne (Todd) Rogers of Cedaredge, Colorado; and Rebecca (Bryan) Smith of Summerlin, Nevada. Her Grandchildren include: Jakob Baraket of Broomfield, Colorado; Maquel (Rian) Green of New Smyrna, Florida; and Sarah Baraket of Costa Mesa, California. Taylor (Bridget) Griffith of Shelton, Nebraska and Caleb Griffith, Aaron Griffith, and Joseph Griffith all from Kearney, Nebraska. Elliott Rogers of Lakewood, Colorado; Jonathan (Allie) Rogers of Grand Junction Colorado; Tobias Rogers of Grand Junction, Colorado; and Olivia Rogers of Cedaredge, Colorado Tyler (Karis) Smith, Caylie Smith, and Braydon Smith all of Summerlin, Nevada. Reva also was blessed with five great grand-children and numerous nieces and nephews.

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Reva Rae Griffith

August 23, 1937 - October 21, 2020