A private memorial service for Robert Newton Griggs, 71, of Washington will be held Saturday, June 6, 2009. He died Tuesday, June 2, in Wills Memorial Hospital from complications related to diabetes.

Mr. Griggs was born in Atlanta on January 10, 1938, and graduated from Brown High School and the Atlanta Art Institute. He was a cast member of the legendary Theatre Under the Stars, and was a founder of Griggs, Van Horn, and Associates, a leading special events company whose client list included the Coca-Cola Corporation, Delta Airlines, and Turner Broadcasting. He also began the Inman Park Neighborhood Restoration in the late 1960s and later won the Georgia Governor's Award for Historic Preservation.

Mr. Griggs was the son of the late Emory and Virginia Griggs of Atlanta. He is survived by his sister, Susan V. Griggs of Highlands, N.C., and by Robert B. Aiken of Washington.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Washington-Wilkes Animal Shelter, 358 Brown Drive, Washington, Ga. 30673.