Barry Coulter
The 25-year-old bowling trophy on your mantle, the name-tag from an event that’s still in your drawer, the commemorative plaque on the theatre wall … there are thousands of suchlike items that bookmark the events of our lives private and public, major and minor. They may seem insignificant now, at first glance, but they capture a moment of our history, mark a personal achievement, give us identity at an event — and they are part of Cranbrook’s culture.
Behind all these was Richard Griffith — Dick Griffith — a warm and generous individual who operated Interior Sports and Trophies for 45 years.
Griffith — an artisan, businessman, adventurer, and athlete — passed away April 19, 2024.
Griffith supplied trophies and awards for local leagues, competitions and special occasions for decades. Name tags for events, door and desk signs for businesses, jewelry and watch engraving — those little details that give a personal touch such significance.
Those who know him said his business raison d’être was his customers’ satisfaction.
“He was very dedicated to his business, and his only purpose was to make his customers happy,” said Petra Ware, his partner of the past 15 years.
The community responded to his craftsmanship and his kindness with its steady business, for almost 45 years.
Interior Sports and Trophies operated out of a storefront on the 800 block of Baker Street (its second location) for years. It was one of several businesses destroyed in the 2012 fire that ravaged an entire downtown block.
Griffith then shared business space on 2nd Street South with Petra Ware, who operates Petra Naturally, which produces a line of over 100 handmade bath and body products. In 2019, Griffith moved locations again, to 127 Kootenay Street.
Griffith loved scuba diving, and travelled the world on diving trips. He also gave lessons in the sport.
Racket sports were also a passion.
“That’s one of the things that made his life interesting, the things he enjoyed,” Ware said. “Especially the racket sports. He loved tennis, and badminton. He was very involved in that.
“He did like to win, but he was a very good sportsman. He travelled a lot to different tournaments.”
Griffith, born May 25, 1940, grew up in Galloway and moved to Cranbrook with his family in 1957. He married his first wife, Cynthia Harris in 1960. In 1978 he started Interior Sports and Trophies.
Cynthia was one of two who died in 1983, when a four-seater search and rescue training flight she was on crashed in the St. Mary Lake area.
Dick Griffith is survived by his children: Vern (Jackie), Michael (Julia), Joe (Jodie) grandchildren Ryan, Elliot, Kaylee, Christina, and Gaige, his sister V. (Dolly) Pinchak (Angel), and his partner Petra Ware, and his extended family of Matt and Tiffany and two grandchildren, Rose and Hugo.
He was predeceased by his wife Cynthia, parents Vic and Nett Pinchak and brother Jesse Pinchak.
It was also announced that Interior Sports and Trophies will continue under the new ownership of Gilbert Guindon as East Kootenay Sports and Trophies.
In Dick Griffith’s obituary, “he wished to leave a heartfelt thank you to the people of the East Kootenay and Columbia Valley for years of business.”