Individual Details

Death

correspondence by email from Robert W. Rigg, Sr.
13 Feb 2008

You never met Danny Joe Rigg, but for the record, he
is a cousin and he passed away a couple of days ago.

His father was Joe Rigg, son of Joe Rigg who is the
brother of my Grandpa John Rigg. The Rigg brothers
married the Williams sisters, Lesley and Jessie! They
all ended up in Colorado working the mines in Cripple
Creek where dad was born. After being run out of
there for going on strike they ended up here in
Palisade.

Danny Joe was the top of his class in high school, all
state football and wrestler, and received a
scholarship for both at Western State. Per the high
school folks, they had never had a higher ranked
student... just super smart!

Danny's mother, Ruth Gardner Rigg, got cancer of the
Kidney and died very suddenly. Joe began drinking
more and more, and it rubbed off on Danny Joe. To see
his dad, he went to the bars! The local bars knew
them well... fights were common and got worse when
Uncle Gabriel Taylor Rigg, Joe's brother, was killed
in a bar fight in Palisade in the early 1950's.

College went bad, other bad things happened, and Danny
went into the service to avoid jail time for some
minor things. He came home on leave after going off
Antabuse and got horribly drunk one night. For some
reason he thought he needed money, so he took a
shotgun and pistol and hit the liquor store at the top
of the 5th street hill across the Colorado River
towards Orchard Mesa. He informed the owner that it
was a stick-up, and a customer said something to the
effect... "What are you doin' kid?" Danny simply
raised the shotgun and blasted him in the head. The
store owner jumped over the counter and grabbed the
shot gun and knocked Danny down on the floor. He then
rammed the butt of the shotgun into Danny's head,
fracturing his skull.

I saw Danny in the hospital a couple of days later.
He was lucid but had no idea what had happened or what
he had done. The end result was a murder conviction
and thirty plus years in Canon City in the State
Penitentiary. They had problems even there, and I
believe he had electric shock treatment that made him
easier to handle but worse off mentally.

Anyway, Danny had the world at his hand once... then
alcohol took hold and killed him! He was married and
had a child at the time, and they are doing very well.
Sonja, his wife, is in Alaska. She was nearly a
victim of a school shooting there in Bethel a few
years ago. His son, Gib, is a Colonel in the Army and
has had several tours in the Middle East... he is
brilliant, speaks all Arabic dialects, and has been in
the Pentagon recently.

There may have been a reason why Jessie and Lesley
Rigg closed the bars in Palisade years ago... and
there may be a lesson for all of us to recall!

We all may have the gene, whether you know it or not!

Please be careful... abstinence is best for all of us,
believe it or not!

Poor Danny... he has been a recluse in Palisade since
getting out of the Pen and finally heart disease
killed him. Much worse, the problems of alcohol abuse
ruined a young man who had an outstanding potential in
life... all for naught and all over alcohol...
starting as a teen!

He was such a cute little cousin... so fun and full of
life... loving older sister and precious mother, all
gone...

Please take care of yourselves and your precious
little children... always! Only you can set the
example and be the guide and light to help your
children and grandchildren choose what is right!

Yes, I have had or set my poor examples, but that is
long past! Perhaps most importantly, you now know
some of the rest of the family history...

love,

daddy

Obituary

Daniel Joseph Rigg September 11, 1943 - February 12, 2008 Daniel Joseph Rigg was born on September 11, 1943 and died on February 12, 2008 at Mantey Heights Care Center in Grand Junction CO. He was born to Joseph Clay Rigg and Ruth Avena Gardner-Rigg and lived in Cameo, CO during his early childhood. The family then moved to Palisade in 1948 where Dan attended Palisade Elementary School and graduated from Palisade High School. Dan earned an athletic scholarship to Western State College for his excellence in wrestling and football. Dan was a member of the Iron Workers union. He worked on various construction and pipeline jobs including the power transmission line from Marrow Point Dam to Hayden, CO and Ruedi Dam, near Basalt, CO. Dan married Sonya Kay, a high school friend, on June 11, 1964. They were later divorced. They had one son Gib Rigg of Washington D.C. who is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. Gib and his wife Melissa have three children Dana, David and Amy Elizabeth. Dan had a strong faith in the Lord. He studied scripture daily and through his study, he learned both Hebrew and Greek. Dan enjoyed discussing his faith and the Bible with his friends and family. Survivors include Dan's son Gib (Melissa) Rigg, grandchildren Dana, David and Amy Elizabeth of Washington D.C.; brother-in-law John Fuller of Palisade; cousins Vincent Foster and Sharon (Rev. William) Foster of Grand Junction; four nieces Ruth Boothe of Las Vegas, NV; Lisa Cunningham of Glenwood, CO; and Mary Anne Maupin and Sherri Fuller of Grand Junction, CO. Also surviving are two grand nieces Lynn Maupin of Longview, TX; and Amber Cunningham of Denver, CO along with Sonya Kay-Rigg of Platinum, AK. Preceding him in death were Dan's parents Ruth and Joe Rigg and his sister L. Lynn Fuller of Palisade. A memorial service was held at the Mantey Heights chapel on February 18, 2008. Burial will take place in Palisade at a later time. Memorial contributions may be made in memory of Dan to Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado.
Published in The Daily Sentinel on Feb. 29, 2008

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gjsentinel/obituary.aspx?n=daniel-joseph-rigg&pid=104543579