Riggs, Robert (1919-2008)

RIGGS, FARNHAM, MEYER, ALLEN, WILEY, MATRE

Posted By: Colleen J. Ossman (email)
Date: 10/23/2008 at 19:30:56

(Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA, 16 Oct 2008)

Robert Riggs, 89, Clear Lake

Robert Riggs 89 years old, 32 Long Beach, 5851 S. Shore Drive, Clear Lake, Ia, died Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 at Regions Hospital in St. Paul Minn.

A memorial service will be held at 11am Saturday Oct. 18, 2008 at Clear Lake United Methodist Church, 508 2nd Ave. N. in Clear Lake, with Rev. Diana Hoover officiating. Visitation will be at 10am in the church, and lunch in the Fellowship Hall following the service. Ward Van-Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. 4th St. in Clear Lake is in charge of arrangements. Memorials can be made to Hospice of North Iowa.

Robert Elba Riggs was the fourth child of Fred and Lilly Riggs, born in Garber, Iowa, on May 1, 1919. Robert's father was a minister in EUB churches through out Iowa: Garber, Moravia, Granger, Dumont, Des Moines, Webster City, and Ames. Robert graduated from Des Moines East High School in 1936. Robert met Florence Farnham in Webster City and were married March1, 1942, in Ames by Robert's father. Robert graduated from Webster City Junior College and attended the State Univ. of Iowa, but was interrupted by enlisting for WWII.

From 1942-46 he served in the U.S. Army. Robert achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the Medical Administrative Corps. Upon discharged from the Army Robert and Florence returned to Iowa City where he completed a BA and Certification in Hospital Administration taking special post graduate work in hospital administration at State University of Iowa, Indiana University, and University of Chicago. He worked as assistant to the superintendent at the University of Iowa Hospital.

In 1951 the family moved to Clinton, where Robert became the Superintendent at Jane Lamb Memorial Hospital. In June of 1954 Robert and Florence were commissioned as Missionaries by the Board of Global Ministries of the Methodist Church, to serve at Severance Hospital and Yonsei University Medical College in Seoul, Korea, as Superintendent. In March of 1956 the family sailed to Seoul, Korea. In the post Korean War years, Robert oversaw the building of a new 365 bed/ 1500 outpatient/day hospital, medical school and nursing school on the Yonsei University campus. Robert was also Treasurer of Seoul Foreign School, a K-12 school for the children of missionaries which his four children attended. His vision was instrumental in establishing a board policy to set aside 15% of tuitions annually into a building fund back in the 60s and to this day has given the school the means to become a state of the art school in one of the largest cities of the world. He later founded Friends of Seoul Foreign School in the U.S. as a support organization to the school in Korea. In 1968 Robert and Florence completed their mission term and returned to the U.S. After a year of speaking on behalf of the Mission Board, Robert oversaw the construction and management of Bluff Medical Clinic in Clinton. In 1972, he became the Director of Meth-Wick Manor, a Methodist Retirement Home in Cedar Rapids. In 1980 Robert and Florence moved to Sidney, where Robert became the Director for Sidney Health Care Center.

Robert and Florence retired to Clear Lake in 1985. They spent winters in LaFeria, Texas in their 32 ft Holiday travel trailer, for the next 10 years. He has been an active member of Clear Lake United Methodist Church, serving on boards, other volunteer groups, and singing in the choir.

He is survived by two children, Brian Riggs and his wife Gail, Point of Rocks, MD, and Gail Meyer and her husband Lothar, Clear Lake, seven grandchildren, and one great grandson; two sisters, Jean Riggs and MaryAlice Allen, and two brothers, Carl and Donald Riggs.

Robert was preceded in death by his wife Florence, his parents, Fred and Lilly Riggs, two brothers, Max and Glen Riggs) and one sister, Beth Wiley, and his children Ruth Ann Matre and Eric Riggs.