Beecher Wiggins, East Wade Road, Warsaw, passed away Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, at Kosciusko Community Hospital at the age of 92.
He was born Oct. 25, 1924, in Thorntown, to Ernest and Lottie Beck Wiggins. His family later moved to Warsaw, and he graduated from Warsaw High School in 1942.
Beecher was a World War II veteran. He proudly served in the U.S. Navy as a rear gunner and radio man on an Avenger torpedo bomber, flying off the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Hancock in the South Pacific.
Beecher worked at the U.S. post office in Warsaw, as a sales representative for L.M. Berry Co. selling ads for the yellow pages in the Midwest, as a local contractor for many years, and he and his wife, Doris, owned and operated the Village Inn Pizza Parlor and Top of the Inn Restaurant in Warsaw.
Beecher was a Warsaw city councilman and a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Warsaw. He had his private and instrument pilot licenses and loved to fly his Cessna 182 and attend fly-ins with his Beechcraft Staggerwing airplane.
Beecher will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 69 years, Doris Maxine Engle Wiggins; two children, Ernie Wiggins (and spouse Deb), Warsaw, and Jan Wallace (and spouse Charlie), Simpsonville, Ky.; three grandchildren: Chris Wiggins (and spouse Sarah), Warsaw; Liz Domenico (and spouse Derek), Denver, Colo.; and Courtney Wallace, Evanston, Ill.; three great-grandchildren: Nash, Stella and Crew Wiggins, all of Warsaw; and a brother, Marion “Red” (and spouse Susanne) Wiggins.
He was preceded in passing by two brothers, Charles “Norris” Wiggins and Ernest Beck Wiggins; and a sister, Mary Ruth Stiver.
No visitation is planned.
Friends and family are invited to attend a graveside service in Oakwood Cemetery at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9. Pastor Denny Wilson will officiate.
Arrangements are entrusted to Titus Funeral Home, Warsaw.
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Memorials to Honor Flight Northeast Indiana, which provides trips to Washington, D.C., for local area veterans.
