Surry-Sussex County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Riggan, Wilson B. Sr., 2007 

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WILSON B. RIGGAN 

  WAYNESBORO - Wilson B. Riggan, Sr., Ph.D., age 92, passed away on March 11, 
2007, at Avante Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Waynesboro, Va.

  Dr. Riggan had resided there since the death of his wife, Edna Downs Riggan, 
in December 2000.

  Preceded in death also by his brother, David T. Riggan, and a sister, Mary 
D. Irving, d.Ed, Dr. Riggan is survived by his other sister, Ellen R. Webb of 
Waynesboro, Va.; his children, Pearl R. Adamson of Richmond, Va., Wilson Jr. 
of Palm City, Fla., Jesse E. Riggan of Durham, N.C.; and stepdaughter, Ann J. 
Cass, of Wakefield, Va.; his 10 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

  Dr. Riggan was born on Sept. 15, 1914, and raised on the family farm in 
Surry County, Va., near the town of Waverly.  After high school, he enlisted 
in the Merchant Marines, where he served until the end of World War II.  By 
the end of the war, he had gone to OCS, achieved the rank of Lieutenant, and 
was the supervisor at diesel propulsion school for engineers and maintenance 
personnel in Milwaukee, Wis.  Then Dr. Riggan embarked on his second career, 
agriculture.  He earned a BS from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. from North 
Carolina State University, and taught at NC State and the University of 
Florida for several years.

  Government service called again in 1964, when Dr. Riggan joined a 
predecessor organization of the Environmental Protection Agency as a research 
scientist, Dr. Riggan’s career, most of which was in Research Triangle Park, 
North Carolina and lasted until his retirement in the early 1990’s, 
concentrated on Documenting and evaluating the health effects of components 
of air pollution.  This was the source data necessary for the EPA to be able 
to set standards for human exposures and to establish the regulations with 
which to enforce those limits.  Most notable among his publications and 
contributions was the long-term project of calculating and publishing cancer 
mortality rates and trends for every county in the United States over several 
decades.  For the last 30 of the 40 years of the underlying data base, it 
includes every death record in the country, not just those which indicate a 
cancer as a cause of death.  This database publication are still in use by 
researchers who seek to identify relationships between exposures to 
environmental factors and causes of deaths.

  Dr. Riggan had been a life-long member of the United Methodist Church, from 
Carsley UMC in Surry County, Va., to Epworth UMC in Durham, N.C.  He has held 
leadership positions from superintendent of Sunday schools to lay leader and 
Board chairman.  His academic and professional honors include membership in 
Alpha Zeta, Phi Kappa Phi, and listings in American Men of Science and Who’s 
Who of the Southeast.

  Services will be at 2 p.m. March 17, at Purviance Chapel, J.T. Morrison & 
Son Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, 11414 General Mahone Highway, 
Wakefield, Va., with the Rev. Ray Rowland officiating.  Interment with 
military rites will follow in the Waverly Cemetery.  The family requests that 
in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Memorial Fund of Epworth 
United Methodist Church, 3002 University Drive, Durham, N.C. 27707.


Wilson Butler RIGGAN, Sr., Ph.D., retired research scientist, 
Merchant Marines veteran of WW-II, 
b. 15 Sep 1914, Surry Co., d. 11 Mar 2007, Waynesboro, 
interred in Waverly Cemetery*, 17 Mar 2007, 
J.T. Morrison & Son Funeral Home obit, 
   posted with Find a Grave Mem. #18387446 

His parents, Jesse Thomas & Ellie Otelia (BUTLER) RIGGAN, and 
   paternal grandparents, are also buried there. 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/surry/obits/r250w1ob.txt