Waldo Griffiths, a World war veteran, who has succeeded his father in the contracting business in Utica, is now at the head of the corporation known as Waldo Griffiths, Incorporated. He was born in Utica, Oneida county, New York, on the 1st of April, 1889, and is the only surviving son of Griffith and Mary (Davis) Griffiths, both of whom are deceased. Extended mention of the father is made on another page of this work.
On the completion of a public school course Waldo Griffiths became connected with the contracting and building business in the service of the firm of Griffiths & Pierce, of which his father was the senior member. Parental influence was not exerted, however, to win him an easy berth. By dint of energy, close application and untiring industry he worked his way steadily upward from minor positions to places of greater responsibility and importance. When the firm of Griffiths & Pierce was incorporated in 1914, Waldo Griffiths was elected vice president of the company. During the years of his preparation for executive control of the business he had become a skilled bricklayer and was thus familiar with the practical phase of the work as well as with the duties of management. He was made treasurer of the company upon the death of his father in 1919, while three years later he purchased the entire outstanding interest and reincorporated the enterprise as Waldo Griffiths, Incorporated. Since that time he has been awarded the contract for and has built the new pavilion at Faxton Hospital, the Genesee-Hopper Realty building, the Biology and Geology building of Hamilton College, Clinton, New York; the Infirmary of the Eastern Star, at Oriskany; the Children's Infirmary for the Home of the Good Shepherd, and a number of high-class residences. His continued success is assured, for he is a young man of excellent business ability, sound judgment and keen discrimination. He is a director of Hotel Utica and has other important business interests.
On the 14th of October, 1914, Mr. Griffiths was married to Miss Edith Hethrington Brayton, daughter of Omar and Olive Delia (Countryman) Brayton. Mr and Mrs. Griffiths have two daughters; Edith Hethrington and Dorothy Marion. The family home is at New Hartford, New York.
The military record of Mr. Griffiths covers service in the World war. He sailed for France on the 27th of July, 1918, participated in the St. Mihiel drive in the following September and was subsequently with the Army of Occupation on the Rhine. He is a member of the American Legion and fraternally is identified with the Masons, belonging to Oriental Lodge, F. & A. M.; Oneida Chapter, R. A. M.; Mohawk Consistory, A. & A. S. R.; and Ziyara Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. Appreciative of the social amenities of life, he has joined the Yahnundasis Golf Club, the Utica Curling Club, the True Ivorites and the Cymreigyddion Society. He is also a consistent member of Plymouth church, in which he succeeded his father as a trustee. In politics he is a democrat. His many friends attest his sterling characteristics, while his native city of Utica accounts him one of her prominent young business men and progressive and public-spirited citizens.