Carol Elaine Griffieon

Carol Elaine (Brooks) Griffieon, age 73, beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother & friend passed peacefully from this life on April 7, 2025 at home, surrounded by her family. Carol fought a brave battle against Ovarian cancer for 9 years, in the end, her body was tired, so she passed into a place where she will be forever healed with no more pain.

Carol was born on September 20, 1951 in Nevada, Iowa to LaVern & Dorris Brooks. She grew up on a farm west of Nevada developing a love of horses at an early age. Her siblings tell the story, when she was 2 years old, she got a hat, a poster and a cap gun for her birthday and then her dad pulled into the driveway with two horses named Smokey and Peepers. Carol had to be stopped from diving head long out the window to get to the horses and from that moment on, she was happiest when she was outside with her horses which she could frequently be found riding all over the neighborhood.

Carol attended Nevada High School where she met the love of her life, Ted Griffieon, during her sophomore year at the age of 15. She graduated from Nevada High School, in the class of 1969. After high school she went on to the University of Northern Iowa graduating with a bachelors of science in Accounting in May of 1973.

She dated Ted throughout college, after she graduated they were married on August 4, 1973 in Nevada, Iowa. Upon marriage they moved into a small house south of Ivy, in Polk County where Carol went to work at Firestone Tire company in their accounting department.

In the fall of 1973 Ted was offered an opportunity to farm, moving them to the farm northwest of Altoona, Iowa where Carol and Ted lived for 42 years while raising their children and starting all of their businesses.

Their first daughter Heather (Griffieon) Byers was born in 1980 and their second daughter Lindsay (Griffieon) Orris was born in 1982. Carol continued to work at Firestone for 12 years while also raising the girls and helping with the chickens, cattle, pigs & horses and doing the bookkeeping for the farming business.

Around 1985 she left Firestone and came back home to the farm full time. She tended a huge garden, canned vegetables, and cared for all of the animals. As if that wasn’t enough, for a couple of years she also ran the state office of the Iowa Farmer’s Union until the office relocated out of Altoona.

In 1989 Prairie Meadows opened up a race track in Altoona, Iowa. She and Ted started a feed business selling hay, feed and straw to the track. After a couple of years, the race track closed due to poor profits. At that time, Carol worked along with Ted and the kids to walk trailer parks, stand outside of baseball games and go several other places getting signatures on petitions.

These petitions were combined with others allowing a referendum to be placed on the ballot for casino gambling. The bill was passed and signed into law; the race horses returned along with the casino which subsidized them. That was one notable thing about Carol. Whenever she set her mind to it and was determined to get something done there was no stopping her.

In April of 1995 the race horses returned to Prairie Meadows and so did Carol. From that point until she was no longer able to in 2024, you could find Carol every week day of the racing season walking the barns, taking orders, in the office doing the billings, or at the race track helping with deliveries.

In May of 1997, adding to their many businesses, Carol & Ted also decided to purchase the horse walkers at Prairie Meadows. They rented out arms on the walkers to all of the trainers each year until that business was sold in 2024. Many an afternoon in those early years you would catch her on the tractor down on the back side blading in the sand on the walkers waving to all the horsemen.

A couple of years later, Carol had heard from the horsemen that they really needed an RV Park where the horsemen could stay during the racing meet. Never one to say no to an opportunity, Carol came home one day and told Ted she thought they needed to build an RV Park.
Neither of them knew anything about running an RV Park but, what is that saying; if you build it, they will come? So that is exactly what they did. Griff’s Valley View RV Park opened in 2000 as a place for the horsemen to stay during the track season. Quickly realizing that the original 66 units were filling up and that the demand was ever increasing, in 2005 they began expanding the RV Park. By 2007 they had a second shelter house and an additional 76 units.

Griff’s has continued to grow and evolve into a booming RV park which is full year-round with campers. She took such pride in making sure the RV Park was clean and well maintained. She loved to see the campers who returned every summer or every winter and loved talking to them in the office and hearing about their lives. She got such joy, even in the end, from coming out to the office and visiting with all the people from the RV park.

Carol always loved horses and that transitioned over into also owning race horses. Carol loved to see the babies and cheer on the older race horses when they made it to the track. Throughout the three decades of her involvement at the race track, Carol and Ted owned many race horses either, individually, or with other people or groups.

The highlight of Carol’s week was when one of her horses was running. She didn’t often hurry out of the office but if one of her horses was running you can bet that door was slammed at 5 and she was off to get ready so she wasn’t late. She got such joy from watching her horses run and visiting with them and feeding them peppermints when she was walking the barns.

In the last few years, Carol and Ted became very close friends with their horse trainers, Lynn Chleborad & Gene Jacquot. In 2024 they had purchased new horses and one of the things she was most looking forward to was watching some of the new horses run this spring. Unfortunately, she won’t be able to watch in person so all of us will have to watch for her and cheer them on from here.

Carol loved all the businesses and the people she met at the race track and RV Park. She considered many of them not just customers but also good friends. She took pride in the quality of products and services each business offered. She was such a hard worker. Often people would comment on her ability to keep everything straight and multitask. She truly was a super woman and was admired by so many.

In 2014 Carol and Ted moved out of their house of 42 years and into their dream home they designed next to their RV Park. It was at this point they moved all their businesses over to this property as well.

This was the home they had dreamed of and many a night was spent sitting on the balcony overlooking the pond and enjoying the view they had worked all their lives for. This is the home that Carol wanted to get back to so desperately and the home where she spent her final moments surrounded by those who loved her.

Left to cherish her memory are her husband of 51 years, Ted Griffieon. Her daughters Heather (Jim) Byers and Lindsay (Tim) Orris. Her grandchildren Zack, Landen, Ava & Kaden. Her pseudo adopted children Debbie Crew and Spencer Dolash, her pseudo adopted grandchildren Daniel (Brandi), Dalton (Cailey) & Hanah (Ryan) and her pseudo adopted great-grandchildren Arlo & Charlotte. As well as her sister Connie Pierce, brothers David Brooks and Dennis Brooks, many nieces, nephews, in laws and extended family. She was preceded in death by her parents LaVern & Dorris (Price) Brooks and her brother Clint Brooks.

A visitation for Carol will be held at the Bondurant Christian Church from 5 – 8 pm on Monday, April 14th. The funeral service will be at 11:00 am at the Bondurant Christian Church on Tuesday, April 15th.

A celebration of life will also be held on Saturday, May 17th from 1 – 6 pm at 6561 NE 46th Street, Altoona, IA. Out back by the pond where we will be able to overlook the wonderful view she so enjoyed and friends and family can celebrate the beautiful life of this amazing woman.

In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations, in her honor, to her favorite charities. Animal Rescue League of Iowa – Des Moines and Hope After Racing Thoroughbreds (HART) – Altoona.

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