Back to Lenoir Obituaries Index
Lathan A. Wiggins Sr. MOUNT OLIVE - Lathan Almon Wiggins Sr., 92, of the Red Hill/Scott's Store community near Mount Olive, died on Saturday morning, February 13, 2010, at his home. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints, Mount Olive Ward. Participants in the service will be Bishop Richard Brown, President Joel Hancock, and Brother Joseph Scott. Interment will follow in the Wiggins-Price Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the Cultural Hall of the Mount Olive Ward on Tuesday from 7 until 9 p.m., and at other times at the home of Lindy and Judy Wiggins, 207 Crest Drive, Mount Olive. Born October 3, 1917, he was the son of the late Henry Roland and Lillie May Price Wiggins. He was a member of the first graduating class from B. F. Grady High School in 1928 and was the class valedictorian. Being a former Grady student, he held the distinction of having been the very first president of its Beta Club. A local Mormon church leader, he served as the first District President in Eastern North Carolina for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Having been a long-time member of the Albertson Ward, he was assigned to the Mount Olive area where he was instrumental in the founding of the Mount Olive Branch in 1964, and oversaw its building construction in 1970. An entrepreneur, he established Red Hill Fixture Co. in 1958, today still operated by family members as Red Hill Distributors, which manufactures school furniture. He had operated a grocery store, an appliance store, and had founded the Almon Wiggins Cabinet Company. Also, he had been a car dealer. He was active in state and local political arenas, and had been a long-time supporter of the Boy Scouts of America. An avid music maker, in years past he had appeared in the Radio City Music Hall and was broadcast from coast to coast. For his entire life, he had been an entertainer of sorts, always sharing his musical talents with others. He had been married to Pauline Jane Swinson Wiggins for over 70 years when she passed away in 2008. He is survived by six children, Douglas Lyndell "Lindy" Wiggins Sr. and wife Judy, of Mount Olive, Geraldine Faye "Geri" W. Deaver and husband Robert Lee "Bob" Deaver, of Kinston, Major Elwood Wiggins of Mount Olive, Steve Wiggins and wife Hazel, of Mount Olive, Susan Elizabeth Wiggins of Mount Olive, and Chester Markel Wiggins and wife Vickie, of Mount Olive; 28 grandchildren; and 46 great-grandchildren. A son, Lathan A. "L.A." Wiggins Jr. preceded him in death, as did three grandchildren, Judy Lynn Wiggins, Lathan Almon Wiggins III, and Marcus Almon Wiggins; and all his brothers and sisters. Online condolence messages may be expressed at www.tyndallfh.com. Arrangements are with Tyndall Funeral Home of Mount Olive. Sign the guest book at kinston.com. (Paid obituary)
Back to Lenoir Obituaries Index