Joseph Franklin "Joe" Wiggins

12, 2023. Joe was born in Jacksonville Florida on January 27, 1945 and was a proud life-long Jacksonville

resident. He graduated from Paxon High School and served in the U. S. Navy. Upon his discharge from

the Navy he worked for DuPont Chemical Company before joining the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in

1971. He retired from JSO after over 30 years of dedicated service to his community.

During his career with JSO, Joe touched many lives. He started as a “beat cop” working in downtown

Jacksonville and knew the city like the back of his hand. Later in his career he worked in Community

Involvement, loving to work with children as “Officer Friendly,” leading Safety Patrol trips to Washington

D.C., and as a school resource officer at Andrew Jackson High School. Later he was assigned to the

Mayor’s Office with Tommy Hazouri as his driver/security officer and enjoyed meeting people from

across the state, country, and world. His last assignment was with the SWAT and Undercover teams,

establishing their operations warehouse and coordinating hundreds of items including equipment and

confiscated property.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Iris Wiggins, daughter Leslie Dowling (Chuck), granddaughters Erin

Samples (Robert) and Valerie Kreidler, great-granddaughter Raelynn Samples and his mother-in-law

Mrs. Jo Cline. He was preceded in death by his son Joseph “Kevin” Wiggins.

Joe was known for his sense of humor and outgoing personality. He “never met a stranger” and loved to

socialize with family and friends. He was a huge Jacksonville Jaguar fan, having met and worked with

several of the players and NFL staff while working with JSO.

He will be interred at Jacksonville National Cemetary at a future date to be determined. In lieu of

flowers, the family requests to remember Joe with a gift to Donate Life Florida in his honor.