Memorial Service Planned for U of A Professor Emeritus Charles Riggs on July 21

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Charles Riggs

A memorial service for professor emeritus Charles Elmer "C.E." Riggs, Jr., will be held on July 21 at 1:30 p.m. at Sequoyah United Methodist Church in Fayetteville.

The service will also be livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel.

Riggs, 75, a beloved faculty member in the U of A's Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation for 27 years, passed away in February following a lengthy illness.

Riggs retired in 2011, and he and his wife, Susan Riggs (an instructor emeritus at the U of A) traveled extensively to see friends and family in Texas, to attend Longhorn football games, and to their shared areas of origin: Scotland, Ireland and England. Riggs also loved Maui, and his wife said he owned a growing wardrobe of Hawaiian shirts.

Given that, she has told those who plan to attend the in-person memorial service to feel free to dress casually. "Aloha shirts are very appropriate. He hated to dress up," she said.

In addition to his wife, Riggs is also survived by his children and their spouses, Stephanie and Michael Stephens and Brendon and Meredith Riggs, as well as two grandchildren who called him "Papa," Chloe and Christopher Krumwiede.

Riggs was a lifelong Methodist and active in the Sequoyah United Methodist Church, leading and attending classes, and serving on committees and in leadership roles.