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ROBERT “BOB” SMITH WIGLEY (1916-61) |
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From a letter written by one his daughters Robert
Smith Wigley, born February 13, 1916 in Trenton,
New Jersey, married Martha Frances Clark, born August 26, 1914 in Randagia, Iowa. I do not have the marriage date: she says
"they began their lives together in 1937 in NYC". The
couple moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1942, Bob’s job in aerospace transferred
them to Yuma, Arizona in 1945. Bob also ran a photography business in Yuma. Their first daughter was born February 22, 1946 in Yuma. She married
in June 1967. Her
son was born September 20, 1972 in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated High School in 1990,
pursued trumpet studies but did not graduate college. She
divorced in 1976, and remarried in May 1979; their daughter was born January
6, 1980 in Phoenix; she divorced again in 1988, and now runs a ceramics
business in Arizona. The
son is into all kinds of sports, and the daughter is into dance and is
considering a career in nuclear medicine. The
family of three moved to Boulder City, Nevada approx. 1948, where Bob worked
for the Bureau of Reclamation on the Hoover Dam project. Martha worked as a
nurse in a doctor’s office. Their
second daughter was born May 5, 1948. Shortly after, his parents Chester
(Chester Greenhalgh Wigley)
and Bess arrived in Boulder City - and stayed for the remainder of their
lives. During this period both Bob and Martha played in a "swing
band" (Martha on piano, Bob on drums and saxophone), and Bob sang in a
barbershop quartet. In
1955 the family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, Bob working in a titanium plant,
as the dam was finished. In
1960 Bob's health was failing and they moved to Corcoran, California, where
Martha's brother lived. Martha landed a job as head nurse at Corcoran
Hospital. Bob died in July 1961 of heart failure. Martha finished raising the
daughters and remarried Gerald Schwank. Gerald Schwank died in 1991. The
second daughter graduated Corcoran High School in 1966, and married in June
1966. Her husband was born October 8, 1945 in Visalia, California, and died
in a boating accident in July 1974. Their
son was born October 4, 1966 in Corcoran, California. They moved to
Scottsdale, Arizona in 1975, and back to California in 1991 to be close to
her mother; she now works for WalMart. In 2000 she
was living in Templeton, California. Her
son married in September 1984, and his daughter was born February 14, 1985;
the couple separated at some point. The daughter is interested in drama |
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PAGE UPDATED 28 JULY 2008 |
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