John Griffith, Sr. (1921-2010), was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and served in the Royal Navy during World War II. After emigrating to Canada, he joined the Hamilton, Canada, branch of the Otis Elevator Co. in 1955. One of Griffith’s first jobs was the conversion of the elevators in the down-town Hamilton federal building from 25-cycle to 60-cycle power supply. He was involved in construction, service and maintenance at Otis until 1969.
His career took on a new perspective when he joined the Province of Ontario Department of Labour in 1970 as an elevator inspector. His duties as an elevator inspector continued with the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations of the Ontario government until his retirement in 1986.
This photograph, taken beside the Ferguson Avenue, Hamilton office, circa 1963, shows Griffith as the poster boy for Otis.
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