Judith Theresa Wiggins

Born Theresa Wilson in Galesburg, Illinois on 15 May to Swedish immigrant parents, Judith was the youngest of a large family. Orphaned in later childhood, she was raised at the McKnight Home for Girls until graduating from Galesburg High School in 1939.

During World War II, Judith joined the WAVES and served in cryptography in Washington D.C. There she met and married Lieutenant Joseph Wiggins, an Army Air Corps pilot. A son, Joseph Jr., was born in 1944. After the war, the family moved to military bases in Florida, Georgia and Texas.

Divorced in 1954, Judith started a career as a secretary in Chicago. In 1956, she moved with her son, Joe Jr. to Phoenix, Arizona to start a new life as a single mother, employment with Bankers Life Insurance Company, and as an active member of the Lutheran Church.

Retiring as the office manager of the Phoenix Agency in 1986, Judith began over 20 years of volunteer work at the local hospital and sheriff’s office, moving eventually to the retirement community of Sun Lakes, Arizona. In 2009, she moved to the Beatitudes Continuing Care Community in Phoenix, Arizona before relocating with her son and daughter-in-law to the Monterey Peninsula in 2013. Rapidly declining health led to her passing on 22 January.

Judith was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Meldrid, Helen and Marie; brother, Carl Sr., sister-in-law, Vellas; and nephews, Carl Jr. and Jimmy. She is survived by her son Joseph and daughter-in-law Viviane Barsky of Pebble Beach, California; grandsons, Adam of San Francisco, California and Brandon of Scottsdale, Arizona; niece, Betsy Hill of Winchester, Virginia; and daughter-in-kind, Jackie Nagode of Scottsdale, Arizona as well as numerous friends.

The family is most thankful to the myriad of caregivers and the medical professionals who have cared for Judith these past two years. We may be contacted at (303) 717-7298 or [email protected]

Arrangements under the direction of The Paul Mortuary, Pacific Grove, CA.