Isabel Rigby

Isabel Rigby

No services are scheduled for Isabel Rigby 99, who passed away Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at Sunset Villa Care Center.

Isabel Rigby was born September 16, 1912 in Stanwood, Iowa to Charles Longley and Jennie Billings Rigby. Her parents preceded her in death along with her brother Edward Rigby.

She is survived by her special friend Claudia Waide of Roswell and all of the very special staff at Sunset Villa Nursing Home who have given their unconditional love and care in the last years of her life.

Isabel worked as a Sales Representative for IBM she sold and demonstrated IBM typewriters at the New York World Fair in 1939. She also worked as a teller on U.S. Army base in the Boston area in the early 1940s. She went and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa in 1948. She then went on to the State University of Iowa and received her Master of Arts degree in 1950.

Isabel moved to Roswell in 1976 and resided here until her death. She was a member of Symphony Guild, Morning Garden Club, Womens Club, and Chaves County Republican Women and was part of the Friend of the Zoo Project. She was also a member of Lincoln County Garden Club and a life member of the South Central Region National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc.

Isabel loved History. Her grandfather, Captain William T. Rigby fought in the Civil War for the blue and gray, and was instrumental in starting the Vicksburg National Military Park and served as the commissioner from 1899 until his death in 1929. She had many endearing stories to tell about her grandfather.

Travelling was the love of her life. Many of her trips centered on conferences of garden clubs around the world. She traveled with Al and Tommy Cooper on one of their many trips to Israel and was baptized in the Jordan River.

She loved music, and she loved to talk. When she couldnt think of anything else to say, she would say, Oh, fun, fun, fun. That was Isabel. She will be greatly missed.

Isabel will be buried at Red Oak Grove Cemetery in Iowa alongside other loved ones in her family.

Cemetery