About Griffin
Griffin Richard Moody was born Nov 18, 1997 at Baptist Hospital in Jacksonville, FL. He grew up in Ponte Vedra Beach with his older brother, Cason, and younger sister, Leah, and parents, Ken and Cindy Moody. Griffin died tragically in a car accident on September 11, 2016, near St. Augustine. He was about two months shy of his 19th birthday.
Griffin attended Christ Episcopal Church Preschool, Ponte Vedra Palm Valley Elementary School, Landrum Middle School, and graduated in May 2016 from Nease High School.
Growing up he participated in several mission trips with Christ Episcopal Church in Ponte Vedra to North Carolina and New Orleans, and attended Christ Episcopal Church with our family.
While at Nease, Griffin participated for three years (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior) in the Navy JROTC program, enjoying the friends he made there. He was also part of the Engineering academy, took many AP classes, and during his senior year he took a college credit class at St. Johns River Community College.
Griffin had just begun his college career at the University of Central Florida in Orlando when the accident happened. He was very excited about pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering, and being part of the campus life at UCF. While submitting some of his college entrance papers, Griffin wrote, “I have discovered that I constantly think about the future and what it will hold for me; I could work well in an environment with other people as I can relate to them and befriend them within the workplace.”
Griffin was a kind, gentle soul who loved life, loved his family and friends dearly, and had a positive impact on more people than we ever realized. He loved fast cars, and “dreamed of one day traveling the world while driving an exotic car, traveling with the woman I love”. He enjoyed friendly competition, video games, and most of all, hanging out with friends.
We had many great times with Griffin on family outings, family vacations, dinners sitting around the table talking and laughing, debating and discussing. He adored his older brother and younger sister and enjoyed being with them.
In Griffin’s honor and memory, we have established the Griffin Moody Scholarship Fund to be used for helping Nease graduates pursue their college degree.
Donations to the Griffin Moody Scholarship Fund
will go into the trust and be used exclusively for college scholarships.
We had a fantastic turnout at the McKenzie’s Run on Saturday, November 19, 2016. Team Griffin had over 300 runners sign up and walk or run the 5k course. The weather was perfect, and the enthusiasm and energy was amazing. See the photos on the Gallery Page.
In addition, on Sunday, November 20, 2016 we held our 1st Annual Griffin Moody Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament on the Lagoon Course at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. We had 25 four-man teams, with lots of silent auction items. Again, the weather was perfect and we raised a lot of money from the tournament entry fee and silent auction, with those proceeds going to the scholarship fund.
In May of 2017, we selected our first two scholarship recipients at Nease High School. Each year since then, we have selected two more deserving seniors and gone through what has turned out to be a very therapeutic and amazing process for both of us. Honoring Griffin’s legacy while helping these kids with college expenses is very rewarding, and we know he would be proud of all we have done. See Scholarship Recipient Tab for details.
If you would like to help or make a donation, please don’t hesitate to email us at info@griffinmoodyscholarshipfund.org, or call us at 904-610-9561.
You can also send a check made out to Griffin Moody Scholarship Fund to 533 Sunset Drive, Ponte Vedra Beach FL 32082.
Thank you to everyone for your continued kindness, love and support during this difficult time, and thank you for supporting our boy’s legacy, the Griffin Moody Scholarship Fund!
Ken & Cindy Moody
904-610-9561
904-612-8735