Homer T. Riggs

H.T. (Homer T.) Riggs of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away on May 7, 2023 at the age of 86. He was born on August 27, 1936 in Kansas City where he lived his entire life. What happened in between, nobody really knows.

H.T. grew up in the Valentine Neighborhood where he attended Van Horn School. He graduated from Westport High School in 1954 and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s degree in history from UMKC. Although he taught history and civics at Van Horn High School (Independence, MO) from 1960 to 1999, he also sponsored Student Council and American Field Service club, and served as an adjunct – or as he called it, “a junk professor” – at UMKC during the latter part of his career. H.T. was a truly gifted teacher who was well-respected and fondly remembered by students, faculty, and staff throughout his long tenure.

In the late 1950s/early 1960s, H.T. volunteered for six years in the U.S. Army Reserves where he worked in the company commander’s office as a “Remington Raider” (typewriter, not gun) in charge of company payroll. He often joked about how the Army classified him as a “trained killer” after he completed his basic training.

During this same period H.T. met his wife Nancy while they were both working a summer job at Cy Young Hardware. They were married in 1964, and lived in West Plaza until they moved to their home in south Kansas City in 1970. In 1971, they welcomed their son, Matthew (Matt), into the world, i.e., the Big Blue Marble (the world, not Matt).

Though raised a Methodist, H.T. attended the Catholic Church with his wife and son. However, some wondered if his true religion was Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He would often affect a British accent and go around the house reciting Monty Python quotes and songs, at first to Nancy’s amusement, but upon the umpteenth time, well, you can imagine. Some of his favorite Monty Python songs include the Lumberjack Song, Bruce’s Philosopher’s Song, Finland, and Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.

As an avid reader and true news junkie, H.T. read the Kansas City Star and watched the PBS News Hour every day, Newsweek every (you’ll never guess), and a steady supply of non-fiction and humor books. Some of his favorite subjects were Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, The Far Side, books about or by Monty Python, and drum roll please…words. He loved flipping through the dictionary and learning the fascinating array and history of words that made up his mother tongue, gibberish, a.k.a., English.

Few people know that H.T. was a closet cartoonist. In fact, his drawing abilities were so poor that they literally bordered on genius. Signature characteristics of his cartoon characters included manic eyes, sparse hair, a dueling scar, a Van Dyke beard, and a cigarette hanging from the lip, smoke curling up in the air. His most notable characters were Moose Head (catchphrase: “Hiya, Bub!” written on most of Matt’s lunch bags), Rat Dog (picture a paper towel tube with stick legs and a rat’s head), and the incorrigible Mr. Shifty, who was usually up to no good, but whose hilarious antics more than made up for it.

Music was a true passion for H.T. His first love was classical music - he adored Bach (especially the cello suites) and Vivaldi - followed closely by early music - not caveman-grunt-and-groan early, but more along the lines of medieval-documentary-background-music early. He was especially fond of music played on acoustic stringed instruments such as the lute, classical guitar, and dulcimer, but always preferred any music featuring the left-handed sewer flute (P.D.Q. Bach, anyone?). H.T. was also quite fond of an eclectic mix of 20th-century music including Fats Domino (My Blue Heaven), Janis Joplin (Me and Bobby McGee, Mercedes Benz), Victor Borge (anything he did, really), Melanie (Brand New Key), Anton Karas (The Third Man Theme, Café Mozart Waltz), Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells), Roy Orbison (Oh, Pretty Woman), Missa Luba (Kyrie), Queen (Rock It Prime Jive, the intro sung by Freddie), Dixieland (Lassus Trombone), Red Ingle (Oh! Nick-O-Deemo), Leon Redbone (Lazy Bones), just to name a few.

Now, we’re getting down to his reasons for being: love of family, children, dogs, but only two cats. In fact, one couldn’t really separate man from dog in his case. He always had a dog or dogs by his side since he was a little boy. He loved to give them treats, speak for them, rescue them, and talk about them endlessly. They were some of his best friends and bosom companions: Skippy, Trixie, Unks, Motley, Lucy, Pee Wee, Gracie, Margy, and his favorite, Murphy. He also took care of birds, squirrels, and cats, and saw to the welfare of the endless array of Matt’s wild “found” pets.

He would always acknowledge little kids with a hello, a smile, and a wave. He loved playing with kids, reading to kids, and making up stories. Matt will never forget The Many Adventures of Biffy Beans (a doll) which included dinosaurs, caves, and Biffy literally flying through the air. H.T. made every kid he came across feel noticed and worthwhile. And he helped kids know that it is perfectly normal for them to be silly and use their imaginations.

The greatest gifts H.T. ever gave his family were time, humor, freedom, and unconditional love. He was always there for every occasion large or small. He was a great listener. He was someone you could easily spend time with doing something or nothing at all. He regularly punctuated daily life with his immense wit and Pythonesque sense of humor at the core of which is: nothing is sacred. He chose the laissez-faire parenting approach for Matt, which is as Matt puts it, “A doctrine opposing parental interference in a child’s affairs beyond the minimum necessary for ensuring life, health, happiness and prevention of general dickishness to people, animals, and the natural world.“ H.T. was always there - even if he was sitting in the backyard reading the paper or snoozing on the couch - and that in itself was always comforting and reassuring.

H.T. would never have considered himself a rebel. He led a quiet, homebody lifestyle, never craving the spotlight, and was a lifelong Republican (until they lost their minds and moral compass). However, if you define a true rebel as a person who lives their life the way they want to without caring what anyone else thinks, then H.T. was just that. Matt sums it up in a variation of a quote by Bob Dylan about Rick Nelson: “He lives his life calm and steady like he’s in the middle of a storm, men hurling past him.”

To sum it all up, H.T. was a kind and funny man. He lived a simple life consisting of family, kids, dogs, Monty Python, music, and books – not a bad life that.

The family would like to thank Dr. Neal Erickson and his staff, especially Dawn and Amy, and Dr. Mark Box and his staff, especially Lydia and Sarah, for the care, compassion, laughs, and kindred spirits they shared with H.T. and Nancy over the last several years.

H.T. was preceded in death by his parents, Homer M. Riggs and Katherine L. Riggs, his only cousin Paul J. Tivis, who was like a brother to him, sister-in-law, Judy Ford, and niece, Michelle Ford. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nancy Riggs, his son, Matthew Riggs, daughter-in-law, Annie Riggs, granddaughters Katherine and Eleanor Riggs, Paul’s wife Sondra, and Paul and Sondra’s son, Phillip and his family, brothers-in-law Ralph M. Ford (Sandra), Stephen E. Ford (Ann), Charles W. Ford (Angie), sister-in-law Suzanne Holmes (Chris), nieces, Jill, Stephenie, Lauren, and Alicia, great nieces, Ashleann, Sophia, Gianna, Kyrie, nephews, John, Joel, Shannon, and Michael, great-nephews Alex, and Dominic, and everyone else alive at the time of this writing.

Interment will be private for immediate family. A celebration of H.T.’s life will be held October 22, 2023.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in H.T.’s honor to Imagine Furever Ranch and Sister Servants of Mary.