Rex Rigby

Rex J Rigby IDAHO FALLS, ID -- Rex J Rigby, 84, of Idaho Falls, died August 11, 2003, at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center of complications of diabetes. He was born December 19, 1918, in Sugar City, Idaho, the eighth of nine children born to David Eckersley Rigby and Agnes Elsie Price Rigby. He attended school in Chance, Montana, and Driggs, Idaho, and graduated from Teton High School in 1937. He then attended trade school in Pocatello for two years. He was deferred by the government during World War II as a carpenter at Hill Air Force Base near Ogden, Utah. He married Leah Christensen July 5, 1941, in St. Anthony, Idaho. Their marriage was solemnized in the Logan LDS Temple on March 20, 1942. Rex was a farmer and in his spare time remodeled and built over 30 homes and buildings, including the LDS seminary building in Driggs and the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. He developed the first cullinary and irrigation gravity flow water system in the Alta, Wyoming, area, a system which is still in use today. He farmed in Alta, Clawson, and Monteview for many years. An active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served in many positions, including MIA leader, Sunday School Superintendent, 1st and 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric, Bishop of the Clawson Ward, High Priest Secretary, and was a dedicated home teacher. Rex was a loving husband, father, brother and grandfather, who touched the lives of many people. He enjoyed tying quilts and spent many hours the past year and a half tying three quilts a week for the LDS Humanitarian Aid Program. Surviving are: Wife: Leah Rigby, Idaho Falls, ID Daughter: Beryl [Richard] Wadholm, Rexburg, ID Daughter: Myrna [Jerry] Carter, Driggs, ID Son: James [Terri Dawn] Rigby, Monteview, ID Son: Kris [Lynne] Rigby, Idaho Falls, ID Son: Steven [Debbie] Rigby, Grace, ID Daughter: Terri [Lance] Toone, Idaho Falls, ID Brother: Dr. Charles [Mary Jane] Rigby, Linden, UT Sister: Elsie [Neil] Partridge, Santa Clara, UT Stepbrother: Ralf [Janet] Wilson, Rigby, ID Stepbrother: Wayne [Nikki] Wilson, North Logan, UT Stepbrother: Grant [Sharol] Wilson, Alta, WY Stepbrother: Merrill [LaRae] Wilson, Salt Lake City, UT Stepsister: Suzanne [Tom] McKay, Orem, UT 25 Grandchildren, 10 Step Grandchildren, 15 Great Grandchildren, and 18 Step Great Grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, a daughter, Cheryl, five brothers, Grant, Ross, Noel, Clark, and Price Rigby, a sister, Maysel Rigby, a stepbrother, Mark Wilson, his stepfather, T. Ross Wilson, and a sister-in-law, LaRae Wilson. Funeral Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 16, 2003, at the Idaho Falls LDS 20th Ward, 651 Gladstone, with his Son-In-Law, Bishop Lance Toone, officiating. The family will visit with friends on Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Wood Funeral Home (273 N. Ridge) and Saturday for one hour prior to the services at the church. Burial will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, August 16, 2003, in the Pratt Cemetery in Alta, Wyoming, under the direction of Wood Funeral Home.