Jodie Merle Griffith, son of Jodie Edwin and Annie (Bradley) Griffith, was born October 30, 1921 at Glen Cove.  He had one sister, Marjorie (Griffith) Wilson (see Ben M. Wilson). 

Merle spent his early years in the Glen Cove community and went to school at New Central.  In 1934, the Griffith family moved to the Anderson community north of Coleman and Merle went to school in Coleman.  He graduated from Coleman High School in 1940.  On June 2, 1942, he entered the United States Marine Corps and served in the South Pacific with the Second Marine Division.  After combat action on Guadalcanal, he spent eleven months in a Naval hospital in Wellington, New Zealand, before returning to the States.  He was stationed at several Marine bases in the U.S before being discharged from the Corps and returning to Coleman on Thanksgiving Day, 1945.  He became a cattle auctioneer after graduating from Reich American School of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa, in 1947.

Charlyne Mills was born in Santa Anna, November 2, 1928.  Her parents were Frank and Ola (Smedley) Mills.  Charlyne grew up in Coleman, spending the first seven years of her life living with her family in the Coleman County jail.  Her father, Frank Mills, was sheriff of Coleman County at that time, and the family resided in the jail.  She was graduated from Coleman High School in 1946.  Merle and Charlyne were married in Coleman on April 17, 1948.  He had ranching and cattle interests in Coleman County and sold several cattle auctions in central Texas at that time.  In May 1953, they moved to Clovis, New Mexico, where Merle continued his cattle business and was an auctioneer for Clovis Cattle Commission Company and the Amarillo Cattle Commission Company in Amarillo.  The couple had two daughters: Jodie Fran and Kay Lynn.  In July 1960, Merle and Charlyne with the girls moved to San Angelo.  On August 10, 1960, Merle was fatally injured in an automobile accident while returning from an auction sale in Wichita Falls.  After Merle’s untimely death, Charlyne, Jodie and Kay Lynn lived in Coleman until August 1962, when they moved to San Marcos.