On January 14, 2010, the “quiet and steady presence” of Lowell Griffin “Griff” Copeland departed. After years of failing health and the loss of his eyesight, Griff died peacefully at the age of 90. The greater part of his life was woven deeply into the tapestry of Florida College, and his passing leaves an irreplaceable void in the city of Temple Terrace.

Griff was born in Dasher, Ga. on December 7, 1919—the fourth of seven children. His father was a farmer, and Griff grew up working the farm and taking care of his youngest sister. He attended the private Dasher Bible School, where the value of applying a biblical worldview to academic studies was strongly instilled in him.

He earned degrees from David Lipscomb College and Harding College, and later received master’s degrees in both Spanish and library science from George Peabody College. He began his career teaching both Spanish and English at high schools in Georgia, Florida, and Texas. When approached in the mid-1940s to teach at a new Christian college being founded in Florida, Griff expressed immediate interest.

On May 30, 1946, Griff married Gretchen Louise Hill, a schoolteacher from Arkansas. After honeymooning in Mexico, the newlyweds moved their belongings into the Apartment Building at the nascent Florida Christian College. As the school received its first enrollment of students, Griff served as Spanish teacher, head of the English department—and the role that would come to define his half-century at FC—librarian.

Having some experience with high school libraries, Griff was initially asked by President L.R. Wilson to organize and manage FCC’s fledgling collection of 2,000 donated volumes. Griff was officially appointed head librarian in 1952, prompting him to enroll at George Peabody Library School for a master’s degree in library science.

Under Griff’s diligent command, the Donoho Library grew and eventually outgrew its original home in the east wing of the old administration building (Sutton Hall). With the help of students, faculty, and staff, the library moved to its new home in the Chatlos Building in 1968. There Griff remained director of the library until his retirement from full-time employment in 1985. He continued working part time until 1989, and remained on hand almost another twenty years as a volunteer.

One of Griff’s pet projects as librarian was spearheading the archival of Florida College’s history, a fitting mission for one who had been present for it all. “He was a meticulous person,” said President H.E. “Buddy” Payne ’65. The archive project was “his baby...and you’d better not mess with it.”

Gretchen Copeland taught high school English full-time so that Griff could afford to work at the College—some years were so lean that money had to be borrowed to pay FC employees’ salaries. But Griff was not satisfied simply to work for Florida College. The Copelands were present at thousands of school events, concerts, recitals, and musicals (“even when they had to hobble in,” noted President Payne). They paid to attend nearly every banquet in their sixty-year history at the school. Above all of that, the Copelands were extremely generous financial givers—contributing to 19 different school funds over the years.

“It’s incredible, the devotion of those folks to this place,” said Payne. “How many places can say they had an employee who worked over fifty years in the same place, and still had the same passion when he got finished?”

While working at Florida College, Griff preached at several congregations in the area, including Antioch and the bygone Sulfur Springs church. He assisted A.W. Dicus in building the original Temple Terrace church building, and became one of their first elders in the late 1950s. He taught an ongoing Bible class for older members for more than 15 years. “He was a very studious person,” recalled fellow elder Bob Morris. “His Bible was his constant companion. He loved the church at Temple Terrace.”

Griff, who was fluent in Spanish, also had a heart for the Spanish church, both locally and abroad. He traveled to Chile, Columbia, and other Latin countries to preach and encourage Christians.

He was as active in the community of Temple Terrace as he was in any other arena. A lifelong member of the educational fraternity Phi Delta Kappa, he helped plant the Tampa Bay chapter. He served on the board of the Temple Terrace Library for years, and was a member of the Friends of the Temple Terrace Library organization.

“He was just a dear,” said Eleanor Howland, director of the Temple Terrace Library during Griff’s tenure on the board. “Everybody just adored him. He had such a positive influence on the library.”

Though usually described as “quiet” and “unassuming,” Griff revealed another side of his personality on stage—as he did for many years in the faculty and alumni talent show. His act every year was reading Longfellow’s poem “The Village Blacksmith,” while biology teacher Doug Burgess stood behind him, substituting his arms for some comedic paper-fumbling and brow-wiping.

“Only Griff Copeland could do it,” laughed Payne. “It was just a standard act for all those years.”

For such a “quiet” man, Griff touched innumerable lives—as was evidenced in the tribute book given to the Copelands in March 2009, at the dedication of a library conference room in his name. “A kinder, humbler, sweeter man would be hard to find,” said one former colleague. “We never saw you, Griff, that you weren’t smiling” said another. One person remarked, “He’s the only person I knew who could smile bigger than from ear to ear.”

The last of the original hires at Florida (Christian) College, Griff was the longest-serving employee in its history. He worked under four of the school’s five presidents.

One of those presidents, Bob Owen ’50, met Griff when Owen came to FCC as a student in 1949. They later worked together when Owen was hired as a teacher in 1952. “He was very diligent about any responsibility he had,” recalled Owen. “He was willing to do whatever he could do, at any time. He had a servant spirit about him.”

At the news of Griff’s death, former president C.G. “Colly” Caldwell ’63 wrote: “When I think of brother Copeland, I think of the maxim: ‘A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle.’ He lit many candles.”