L. Josephine Riggs

****************** Lena Josephine (Schell) Riggs was born to Joseph and Mary Schell on April 6, 1921, on a small ranch that now lies under the waters of Lake Pleasant. She was the third of their six children. Josephine was raised near the town of Canon (now Black Canyon City) where her father owned and worked two ranches. She loved riding with him to work cattle on Black Mesa, where the grass was "up to your horse\u0027s belly". She attended school in Canon, and was a good scholar, especially in English (she was one of the few people who ever truly enjoyed diagramming sentences). She was also an excellent baseball player--better than some of the boys. When the kids were old enough for high school, her mother moved with them to Glendale, where they attended school at Glendale High during the week and went home on weekends to work on the ranch. Josephine continued to excel in her studies, and was a star on the girls\u0027 softball team. The family always attended the dances where families from miles around would gather, and at one of them Josephine met a handsome young miner named Paul Riggs. They were married in 1936, and lived and worked together for over fifty years, till his death in 1990. Paul worked in several mines in Arizona, New Mexico, and California during the next few years, and the family weathered the Great Depression and World War II. A daughter, JoAnn, was born to them in 1937 and Paula Mae joined the family in 1938. Times were hard; sometimes it took a lot of creativity to feed a family of four, but Josephine always got it done. During the war she worked in the Douglas aircraft factory, where she stood high on a scaffolding, adding the outer walls to the C47 airplanes. She always liked the thought that some of the old "Gooney Birds" that flew in Vietnam and later as firefighting slurry bombers had been partly her handiwork. In the early 1950s she and Paul bought a small ranch near Cordes Junction, and that was to be her home for the rest of her life. A third daughter, Linda Sue, had been born to them in 1950. Josephine was active in community life in Mayer, leading a Girl Scout troop, working tirelessly with the activities that eventually funded the building of the Mayer Community Center, and helping any friend or neighbor who needed it. She also kept a spotless house, helped with the ranching and farming, sewed most of her daughters\u0027 clothes, and canned and froze the products of garden and orchard. She loved to entertain family and friends at Sunday dinner, often followed by croquet, volleyball, or softball after the dishes were done. One of Josephine\u0027s great loves was music, and though she had no training beyond a few piano lessons, she taught herself piano, organ, and guitar. She played the organ at the Cordes Lakes Community Church for many years. She and Paul also joined a small band in Cordes Lakes, where she played her guitar and he played his fiddle at community dances. In later years she continued to get together with friends to pick and sing, till arthritis in her hands stopped her from playing; but she still loved to go and listen. She also loved to write, turning out many sad western story songs and a few funny ones. She wrote two books: a western novel that drew heavily on her early life on the ranch, and a book of family history and remembrances. She never tried to get her work published, but the fact that it was good is attested by the tattered condition of the hand-typed manuscripts that have been read almost to pieces by her family and friends. Her drawings and paintings illustrate many of the same themes of Western ranch life, usually with a touch of humor. She continued to do her own ranch work well into her eighties...she only had a few cattle by then, so tended them on foot. They would come in to the home pasture every morning for the hay she pitched to them. She had names for each one, and knew their personalities...this one was "a mean old sister" and that one was "an old pet". She laughed at their shenanigans like they were kids. During her last years she had lost a lot of mobility and strength, but none of her humor and kindness. She lived in the old house, independent except for a bit of help from her kids and grandkids, until April of 2014, when she was 93. A fall and an illness left her unable to walk, and she spent her last days at Mingus Terrace in Cottonwood. In the early hours of August 18, 2014, her Lord called her home. She was preceded in death by her husband Paul; brother Skip Schell; sisters Dolly Fenton, Viola Long, Mae Gibson, and Irene Derenburger; her daughter JoAnn McDonald; and sons-in-law Walter McDonald and Jim Lindsey. She is survived by daughters Paula Mae Lindsey and Linda Sue (Dick) Barnes; grandchildren Sylvia, Clyde, and Mike (Peggy) McDonald; Dee (Teri) and Schelly Lindsey, Stacie (Paul) Mintken; and Rick and Casie Barnes; great grandchildren Walter McDonald; Adam (Jordan), Nathan, and Troy Peplinski; Emmy and Allie Lindsey; Frankie, Josie, and Jacob Mintken; and great great grandchildren Wyatt and Isabel McDonald. A celebration of her life will be held at the Mayer Cemetery at eleven o\u0027clock on Saturday, August 23.