Sunny & Rayna Griswold Education Fund

"Everything happens for a reason. Create a legacy, follow your intuition, and find your destiny. Every moment is special, and you have angels watching over you. You're never alone. Follow your gut and never give up. What an amazing time to be alive. Destiny, Destiny, Destiny. What can you do with this life you've been given?"

~ Charlie Griswold, May 2022

Charlie Griswold died on July 27, 2022. Charlie is survived by his best friend and soulmate Harley Fernandez, their children, Sunny and Rayna;

parents Betsy Blankenbaker and Tom Griswold; six siblings, Sam, Lucy, Willie, Sally, Finley, and Hart; and his grandmother Virginia Blankenbaker.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, you:

Hug someone for 20 seconds

Take five deep breaths

Forgive someone

Forgive yourself

Do a dance break

Go for a walk on a new path

Stare into someone’s eyes for five minutes

Do a random act of kindness

Write a love letter to someone

Write a love letter to yourself

You may also send donations for the benefit of Sunny and Rayna. All donations will serve as an Education and Life Enrichment Fund for the girls.

Charlie was a beautiful life force. In his earliest years, Charlie loved fishing with his grandmother ‘Gramsie’; playing in the yard with Dean and Figaro, the family dogs; and making everyone around him smile. At the age of seven, Charlie began taking guitar lessons and, shortly after that, mastered the highly technical song “Blackbird” by the Beatles, a song he loved to sing with his family.

Charlie attended Park Tudor school in Indianapolis, Indiana and Cushman School in Miami, Florida. At school, gym was always his favorite subject, and he loved being considered the funniest boy in his grade–who also wrote with the best cursive. From an early age, Charlie was a critical thinker and disliked arbitrary authority, declaring to his school principal in the fifth grade that he was “on strike” against tucking in his shirt. Charlie ended the strike just before lunchtime after being informed that he couldn’t access the lunch his mom packed for him unless his shirt was tucked in.

Charlie spent his summers at Camp Crosley YMCA in North Webster, Indiana, where he loved to waterski, take center stage at the weekly talent show, and play the song “Indiana'' on guitar at the closing campfire alongside his brother Willie. When Charlie was 11, his parents received an unexpected email from a man introducing himself as the father of Charlie’s square dance partner at camp. He felt compelled to share that his daughter could not stop talking about how lucky she was to have Charlie as her partner, as he was “the nicest and most considerate boy in the whole camp.”

From an early age, Charlie was entrepreneurial. When he was nine and wanted to make $20, he asked his mom if he could sell the four bikes in the garage his siblings had outgrown. When his mom said she preferred that they give the bikes away, Charlie came up with another plan. He asked her if he could have a lemonade stand instead. She made the lemonade as he made a sign. Within 15 minutes, Charlie came back into the house smiling with a $20 bill. His mom walked outside and saw the neighborhood maintenance guys loading four bikes into their trailer. She looked at Charlie’s hand-made sign and it read: Lemonade $5, Free Bike with Purchase.

In his teenage years, Charlie loved playing football, hanging out with friends, and making music. When his older brother Sam got his driver's license, morning drives to Park Tutor consisted of all four Griswold's loudly singing the soundtracks from the musicals Rent and Spring Awakening as they drove down College Avenue. When Charlie was 14 and wanted to make money to buy video games, he wrote, recorded, and launched a song on iTunes called Sorta Tryna Party. Within 48 hours, the song made $250. Charlie called it his one-hit single. (Many of us who listened to the song wanted our money back!)

Charlie worked as a farmer and entrepreneur and was the Founder and CEO of Rosin Republic. Charlie was a natural salesman and could establish a connection with anyone. He loved to say that he could relate equally to people living in mansions that drove fancy cars as to people living with addiction and sleeping on the street. On his best days, Charlie was warm, charming, and deeply committed to helping those around him achieve their deeper purpose in life. In his twenties, Charlie developed an interest in philosophy and metaphysics and loved conversing with those around about the meaning of life, planes of existence, and the interconnectedness of life.

In 2016, Charlie met Harley Fernandez in Willow Creek, California. The two bonded over their shared love of farming, swimming in wild rivers, and filling their lives with laughter and adventure. Charlie and Harley soon welcomed their daughters Sunny and Rayna (Ray) into the world. Like so many others, Sunny and Ray thought their dad was “so funny” and enjoyed hot tubs, pizza picnics in the park, and beach days together. Charlie always said the girls were lucky to have Harley as their mom.

Charlie often shared his gratitudes and dreams with members of his family. Before his death, his checklist of manifestations included “time with my daughters, get healthy, live sustainably, and change the world as best I can.” He wanted to write a book and share his story about living with and beyond trauma. It was a journey he was still on when he died.

We will miss him. Thank you for loving our Charlie.

Letter to himself, May 2022

"Charlie, it's all going to be okay."