In January of 1921, William J. Griffey went into the insurance business, opening an office in downtown Excelsior Springs. He never dreamed that 89 years later, Griffey Insurance would still be rendering the same services to some of the same families he established as clients in 1921. And there is fairly good reason to assume that he could not have known he would be the first of four generations in
the Griffey family to dedicate themselves to that business and to people in the Excelsior Springs area. Since its beginning, Griffey Insurance offices have been in several locations, yet all within the same 200 feet of commercial space at the corner of Thompson and South streets. Getting to 210 South Street took a regular influx of new Griffey family members and in 1932 Higdon Griffey joined his father, William, in the insurance business. Higdon was joined by his sons, William J. Griffey in 1962, and Richard R. In January of 1988, 89 years after it's conception to the month, the Griffey family of insurance underwriters was joined by what would mark their fourth generation, William J. Griffey 3rd. The Griffey's have always been independent agents, writing policies for auto, home, life, health and commercial (the whole spectrum). There has been a lot of changes take place in the world of people and insurance, yet the Griffey's seem to be proof that there is nothing new that the family business cannot survive.
