Riggs, William A.

Passed: 1993-05-01

Age: 90

Source: Jackson County Newspapers

Death Notice: 1993-05-05

Obituary Date:

Information: COUNTY'S LONGEST SERVING OFFICIAL, RIGGS DIES AT 90 - Jackson County's longest-serving public official, W. A. ""Bill"" Riggs, died Saturday at Jackson General Hospital.  He was 90.  Riggs served as Assessor of Jackson County longer than anyone and held public office for more years than any other official in the history of the county.  Riggs took office on August 30, 1945 and held the position until he retired in June 1984--just shy of 39 full years.  Riggs was born at Gray's Flat in Marion County on December 22, 1902, and came to Jackson County with his parents, the late Charles and Sallie Estep Riggs, in 1904.  He grew up on a farm at Sarvis Fork, and his mother died when he was four.  His father later remarried and Riggs grew up in a family of 11 children.  ""I ate a lot of cornbread and came up hard"", Riggs told THE STAR NEWS in a 1991 interview.  It was that hard upbringing that provided Riggs with the know-how to be a leader and his innate ability to understand people and their needs.  Riggs became County Assessor by way of an unparalleled event in Jackson County history.  He narrowly lost the 1944 primary election to Guy Dudgeon by less than 60 votes in the final counted precinct.  However, Dudgeon died August 29, 1945, and Riggs was immediately appointed to fill the vanancy.  He then won the office outright in an off-year election, and went on to win 10 consecutive elections.  His popularity among county voters was unequaled.  He was a hard campaigner and went door-to-door. He began his work as Assessor by doing much of the field deputy work himself, driving a Model T Ford.  Just prior to taking office, he had been very successful at selling insurance and had also worked as a traveling salesman.  As the years went by, Riggs' one man staff grew to seven people.  He always said people were what he enjoyed most about his job and what he missed most after his retirement on June 30, 1984. ""You've got to treat people the same as possible"", Riggs said.  ""People keep an eye on you in public office and watch a lot of what you do and make sure you treat everybody the same.  I always tried to treat everybody the same"".    When Riggs took office, county property valuations totalled $19,551,831. When he left 39 years later, the figure had risen to $281,605.270.  Riggs saw many changes, and the county, in turn, never saw anyone else quite like W. A. ""Bill""  Riggs.  He was an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of Ravenswood.   He is survived by his wife, Wilma Cayton Riggs; two sons, Warren Y. Riggs of Atlanta, GA, and James D. Riggs of Sandyville; five sisters, Grace Rardin of Ravenswood, Eleanor McGrew of Eleanor, and Mary Conger, Erma Staats, and Evelyn Pursley, all of Sandyville; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by one son, William Quentin Riggs.  Funeral services were held Monday afternoon at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ravenswood with Preston Seldon Angus officiating.  Vail Funeral Home of Ripley was in charge of arrangements. Burial was in Independence Cemetery at Sandyville.