NORMAN S. WIGGS  (1892 - 1983)

                                        as written by Peter Wiggs

My father (Norman) was born on a farm south of Murfreesboro TN., in
what is still known as walking horse country. My grandfather Wiggs had a
sawmill and was in the lumbering business. I am still uncertain of the exact
number of children my grandparents had, however, I believe there were a total
of 14. One child died shortly after birth and another at the approximate age
of 13. He was a very well read man and taught the Wiggs children to read
Latin.

My grandmother Wiggs lived to be 92 years old, and I remember visiting
her in the early 50’s and she always had a chocolate mint hidden in a drawer
for me. The Wiggs family were very hardy and not unlike their neighbors,
quite resourceful. Corn and other vegetables were grown, and they had pigs,
cows, horses and chickens. Dad, (Norman) would often tell my sister and I
that they were land rich and money poor. Grandmother Wiggs made lye soap and
my grandfather had teams of huge oxen to pull the hardwoods from the forests
after they were felled.

Norman and his brother Hubert were sent to a one room school in Bell
Buckle TN., where they would spend the school year. Mr. Sawny Webb started
the school, known as Webb School, which is now one of the most exclusive
private coed Prep Schools in the state of Tennessee. Sawny Webb was a
strict man who did not tolerate mischief. If the boys were caught fighting
they had to duke it out with boxing gloves in a ring until they both could no
longer stand up. At the Wiggs farm, Grandmother Wiggs doled out the
punishment, and the boys had to cut their own switch from a willow tree which
my grandmother would apply to the back of their legs. Dad told me that he
only had to cut a switch one time!!!

Hubert graduated from the Webb School and attended Vanderbilt
University where he was a member of the 1915 championship football team, and
the first All AMERICAN FULLBACK for Vandy. Dad (Norman), finished at the
Webb School, and attended Union University in Tennessee where he pledged ATO fraternity. 
With the onset of WW1, Norman and some of his fraternity
brothers hopped a freight train for Norfolk, VA., to join the Navy, but were
rejected as the Navy was already at maximum capacity. They jumped another
boxcar and joined the Army in Kentucky. Dad was made corporal his second day
after enlisting as he was the only one in his battalion who could type. He
was sent to France with the artillery and became a balloon observationist,
reporting range and direction of enemy fire. He was shot down, luckily
unharmed, his captain lost a leg to machine gun fire, and received a field
commission. His next assignment was at the French Cavalry School in Saumur
France, where he taught French officers the proper way to ride. Saumur is
world renowned today for their famous Dressage Riding Schools. Growing up in
Walking Horse country had its benefits as all of the Wiggs boys and I am sure
some of the girls were excellent riders.

This began my fathers illustrious career in the U.S. ARMY. Norman
served in WW1 and WW2 , finally retiring during the Korean War in 1952.
During the Great Depression Norman was Captain of a CCC regiment in Corbin
Kentucky building roads. He also tried his hand as a professional poker
player on Riverboats between New Orleans and Hannibal Missouri, before going
to Alaska to pan for gold. During the 2nd. World War Norman was named
Inspector General of all ships entering Southhampton England. Dad met Carl
Wiggs his nephew after Carl was wounded in France and sent to England to
recuperate. Carl now resides in Montgomery Alabama, and has taken so much
time with one of his daughters to put this web site together. I have learned
so much about my family that I did not know and hopefully I can introduce my
father Norman Wiggs to the rest of the family.

At the end of WW2, Norman was sent to Germany where he was responsible
for identifying so many of the young men who lost their lives. He worked
with a team of Dentists to achieve this task and shortly before he retired in
Washington, D.C., he traveled all over the U.S. to meet with the families of
those men and women who did not return.

My father met my Mother, Lucile Morin Wiggs in London during a blackout.
They were married and I was born on May 12, 1946 at the end of
the war in Bournemouth, England. Lucile had been previously married and I
was blessed with a sister, Marianne, who was born on March 3, 1943. Marianne
currently resides in Seminole Florida where she and her husband Randy
recently retired after selling a successful Air Conditioning business. They
have three children, my nieces Kim, a teacher in Clearwater, Angie who owns
an Audiology business, and my nephew Matt, who just finished his first year
at Catholic University in Washington D.C. Marianne and Randy Scott travel
often and spend a great deal of time with their church. She is a true
Christian and I am blessed to have her.

My mother Lucile Morin Wiggs was born in Montreal Canada, and had a very
unusual childhood. Her mother Matita was an artist and taught Lucile to love
art, museums, opera and philosophy. I am in awe of her as her childhood is
so different from the way that we have raised our own children. My mother
was quite a lady! Lucile also had another side that I would like to mention,
and that was her tremendous love of life. When we were children, we always
took trips in the car. Lucile would pack a picnic which would be so elegant
that you would think you were in a restaurant. She loved to laugh and had a
mischievous streak in her. When you was a young girl, she and her sister
Louise would ride their brothers motorcycle, and they would fly a small
single engine plane and do stunts. She and Louise ran out of gas more than
once and had to land the plane in a farmers field. My mother was twenty
years younger than Norman, and I do think that this helped to keep my father
young. Lucile passed away in 1994 at the age of 82, and I will always miss
her.

When Norman retired from the Army in Washington, D.C., he took our
family to Europe to live for a few years. We lived in Bordeaux France, and
Hampton Court, England. Our family returned to the United Stated to live
outside of Winston Salem, N.C., where I finished high school, and Marianne
finished college. Norman and Lucile built a small home on Siesta Key,
Florida, and later moved to Clearwater, Florida. Dad passed away in 1981 at
the age of 91. He was the kindest man I have ever known, and he always had a
positive attitude. I am very fortunate to have had such caring and
interesting parents.

Norman left two children; Marianne, who you have already read about, and
me, Norman Peter Wiggs.My wife Miffy (Mary Francis), is a Marketing Manager 
with Delta Air Lines, and has been with Delta for 25 years. She is a great mother 
to our children and a wonderful wife. Her hobbies are running and she enjoys going 
to the athletic functions that our children take part in. My daughter, 
Meghan Christine Wiggs is 14, a freshman in High School and a member of the freshman 
volleyball team. Her real love is golf, and I think she will have a great future with golf, 
if she sticks with it. My son Luke Parker Wiggs is 18 and in his last year of high school. 
He is the starting Quarterback on his football team, and his goal is to play football in college. 
We don’t know if this will happen, but he has caught the eye of several recruiters. 
We all wish him the best of luck.

Thank you for taking time to read about our family. Please call us at
the above number; we would really like to hear from some other family members
that we have not met.

P.S. A special thanks to Carl Wiggs and his daughter Connie in Montgomery,
AL., for all their work to put this web site together.