Ruth Wiggs was born in Red Bank (Chattanooga), Tennessee. Her parents were Lois Kelly Wiggs and John Henry Wiggs and she has an older sister, Lois Margaret Wiggs. The family lived in Red Bank until April, 1934 and then moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Ruth attended West End High School and Vanderbilt University, where she received a BA degree.
She married William Lumpkin Alford in Nashville on June 3, 1948. She and her husband lived in Albertville, Alabama, for a short time before moving to Pasadena, California. Bill attended California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) and received a Master's degree in June, 1949, and a PhD in physics in December, 1952.
Their daughter, Linda Sue Alford, was born in Pasadena in 1951. In 1952 the family moved to Auburn, Alabama, where Bill jointed the physics staff at Alabama Polytechnic Institute. Later the name was changed to Auburn University.
Their son, Charles Alan Alford, was born in Auburn in 1953. They spent the summer of 1953 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and returned to Auburn in September.
A daughter, Lois Anne Alford, was born in 1954 and a son, John David Alford, was born in 1955. The family moved to Huntsville, Alabama, in 1958. Daughter Barbara Jean Alford was born in 1959 in Huntsville. The family moved back to Auburn in 1964 and Bill retired from Auburn University in August 1991.
Ruth and Bill still reside in Auburn and have seven grandchildren.
Linda Sue Alford currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She married Thomas Yeager in 1993 in Louisville, Kentucky. Linda has two sons from her first marriage, Thomas Radford (Ford) Hazelip and William Alford (Will) Hazelip. Both Ford and his wife, Melanie, graduated from Auburn University and now live in Birmingham, Alabama. Will graduated from Emory University and is now living in Louisville, Kentucky.
Charles Alan Alford married his wife, Janet McMillan, in Winter Garden, Florida in 1991. They now live in Vero Beach, Florida.
Lois Anne Alford married Patrick Edward Molony in Auburn, Alabama, in 1978. They have two daughters, Laura Kelly Molony, born in Venezuela, South America, and Elizabeth Britton Molony, born in Birmingham, AL. They currently live in Birmingham.
John David Alford and wife, Julie Riggs Alford, were married in Columbus, Mississippi in 1993. They have one daughter, Grace Ann Alford, and currently live in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
Barbara Jean (Barbie) Alford married Donald Kevin Hogan in 1981 in Auburn, Alabama. They have two children, Kevin Martin Hogan and Colleen Adair Hogan, both born in Greenville, South Carolina. The family now lives in Pensacola, Florida.