Georgia M. Roed

Georgia M. Roed (Griffith) Obituary
August 31, 1941 to August 21, 2024

Born in Gary, Indiana on August 31st, 1941 to George R. Griffith and Eula Mae Griffith (Williams), Georgia was the eldest of three daughters.  She resided in Ypsilanti, Redford and, for all of her adult life, West Bloomfield, Michigan.  She rose to more life on August 21st, 2024 after battling ovarian cancer.

Georgia graduated in 1959 from Redford High School with hobbies in dance, singing and piano.  During her college years she resided at Betsy Barbour dormitory at the University of Michigan and later joined the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.  She achieved a bachelor’s degree in Music Education 1963.  While she played piano and sang prior to going to college, she had to learn the violin, viola, cello and clarinet along with memorizing music literature to graduate.  Later in life she would teach herself the dulcimer, guitar, xylophone, and was most recently learning the ukulele.

The University of Michigan music literature professors would conduct a “drop needle” test where the needle was dropped on a symphony record and the students would have to say the composer and title of the work.  Up until the day she passed away, Georgia could hear a classical musical composition on the radio, in a store, or wherever and be able to tell you who the composer and name of the piece playing.

She adored all forms of music and dance.  On road trips with her daughter to North Carolina, they would belt out songs from The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, The Monkees, and Elton John.  During one trip, Georgia shocked her daughter when “Conga” by Gloria Esteban started playing on the radio.  Noticing her mother dancing in the passenger seat, Heidi cranked up the music.   Georgia shouted over the loud noise “I love this song!”  Georgia was 81 at the time.

While studying at the University of Michigan, she met Finn F. Roed the summer after her freshman year on a blind date at Interlochen music camp.  Four years her senior, he was a camp counselor and she a student.  Georgia said it was “Love at first sight.”  They got married in June 1963 after she graduated and she would go on to become an elementary education music teacher handling the music programs for three Waterford elementary schools.

Georgia became a stay at home mom to her son Spencer and daughter Heidi when Heidi was born in 1974.  Heidi had terrible allergies requiring Georgia to do research on how to cook meals her daughter could safely eat.  That ability to research and adapt would serve her well throughout her life.  Once both children were old enough to stay home alone, Georgia went back to teaching as a substitute teacher for multiple school districts and got her Associates Degree in computer programming at Oakland County Community College at night.  Health issues with her father and mother in laws as well as with her husband Finn required her to add caregiving to her list of roles.  Her husband Finn in particular needed help with nutrition as the medications he took required he not eat certain foods.  Once again Georgia dug into researching her library of cookbooks and began testing recipes that aided his medical journey.

By 1991, to help with the household finances, she became a legal secretary for the law offices of Gerald K. Flagg and would work for Mr. Flagg for several years.  Both of her children had worked for Mr. Flagg and, impressed by her children and her typing skills, he hired her after the first interview despite her never working in law before.

In 2005, Georgia was diagnosed with ovarian cancer stage 1C and successfully beat back the disease via surgery and chemotherapy.  Her own battles with cancer triggered her to seek out healing spices, vegetables, fruits, seeds and grains and create delicious and healthy meals for herself and others.  In Georgia’s words, “Food IS medicine.”  She would join the One to One Ovarian Cancer Support group and become an advocate and supporter of other women going through similar treatment.  No evidence of her ovarian cancer showed itself by the end of 2005 and after 5 years cancer free she was declared in remission.

Georgia began taking classes in Master Gardening at Michigan State University’s Tollgate Campus to fill her days doing what she loved – gardening - after Finn passed away in 2019.  That same year after completing radiation therapy for stage 1 breast cancer, she started her first butterfly garden at her subdivision’s park and moved to build another one at her church along with maintaining the gardens on her own property.  The ovarian cancer reoccurred in 2020 and, with the help of her children, she continued to grow both butterfly gardens throughout her chemotherapy treatment and subsequent cancer maintenance program.  The day before her death, five years after the neighborhood butterfly garden had been started, Heidi told Georgia that she had found monarch butterfly eggs on one of the undersides of the milkweed plants.  Georgia had achieved what she set out to do – create a butterfly nursery for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.

Always up to help and be part of her community, Georgia served as a Deacon in her church, Joy group leader, was a guest teacher for the church preschool, and participated in various church groups including The Wired Word, bible study and book clubs.  Her purpose in life was simply to be a good Christian.

Georgia Roed was an incredibly beautiful person who adapted to life as it came.  Always interested in being part of the community, she participated in wherever and however she could without fanfare.  Georgia was an amazing friend, volunteer, community activist, student, teacher, environmentalist, Christian, daughter, mother, wife, aunt, grandmother and great grandmother.

Georgia is survived by her daughter Heidi, her son Spencer, her daughter in law Leslie, her grandchildren Alex and Laura, Alex’s wife Tori and her great grandson Nolan, her sister Margaret Ann Forbes, niece Stephanie Sprague and her family, and her nephew Brandon Sprague and his family, her youngest sister Virginia Sue Kish and her brother in law William “Bill” Kish, her nieces Susan Ingebrigtson, Megan Kish and Peter Kish along with their families.

Service Information -
Visitation – Saturday, November 2nd at 10:30 am
Memorial Service – Saturday, November 2nd at 11:00 am
Location – Hope Lutheran Church, 39200 West Twelve Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI  48331
Attendees are requested to RSVP by calling or texting Heidi Roed at 704-905-3223.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance or visit Georgia’s tribute page to donate: https://tribute.ocrahope.org/myamazinglystrongandbeautifulmothergeorgiaroed