WIGGINS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-12-03 published
Stanley Charles
WIGGINS
By L. Bruce
CRONK,
Wednesday,
December 3, 2003 - Page A26
Family man, band leader, insurer, civic supporter, athlete. Born
August 9, 1925, in Belleville, Ontario Died August 3, in Kingston,
Ontario, of cardiac arrest, aged 77.
Stanley WIGGINS was born in Belleville on the Bay of Quinte in
southern Ontario and lived here all his life -- to the immeasurable
benefit of the Quinte community. His mother, Beulah, was of United
Empire Loyalist background. His father Fred's family was from
County Tyrone, Ireland. Stan loved his parents, and cared for
his mother to the end of her 93 years.
At age 12, Stan was introduced to the trumpet by bandmaster Jack
GREEN of the Salvation Army Citadel Band, a remarkable teacher
who initiated many young people into brass music. Three years
later, at 15, Stan joined the Commodores Orchestra, famed in
Eastern Ontario for its mellow "Big Band" style. He played with
them for 60 years. I recall the dancing slowing almost to a halt
when Stan's silver-toned trumpet would soar into one of the well-known
solos of Bunny Berigan or Harry James, followed by loud applause.
After high school, Stan entered medicine at Queen's University,
until illness forced him to abandon the dream of becoming a doctor.
He studied at the Ontario Business College and then joined the
London Life Insurance Company, first as an underwriter, then
manager. In 1948 he married Margaret
MILLER, a girl from his
own Belleville Collegiate Institute. They and their children,
Joanne, Jim and Carol, formed a close-knit family, camping, cottaging
and skiing together.
Stan was always physically active: a skier, sailor, camper, golfer
and avid swimmer. After he developed cardiac problems, I used
to see him at the Harbour Club in the early morning, swimming
laps. I still look -- but he's no longer there.
Stan had the capacity to listen with complete interest whenever
anyone addressed him. He was, indeed, "Mr. Belleville." His community-caring
spirit was manifested in his service on the board of education
and of the Children's Aid Society, his presidency of the Belleville
Club and the Sales Ad Association.
Stan also gave his musical talents to the Concert Brass and 8
Wing Concert Band, and his own group, the River City Jazz Band.
His daughter told me that as a young man he'd stayed with a relative
in New Jersey, commuting to New York for special trumpet lessons,
and had been offered jobs with several popular bands -- but decided
that the constant on-the-road life of a jazz musician was not
for him. He was more interested in family life, work, and civic
activities. In 1997, Stan received the Quinte Arts Council Recognition
Award "in recognition of outstanding contribution to the arts
in Quinte."
On Saturday, August 2, he led the Commodores for three hours
at the Wellington Waterfront Festival. A close friend and fellow
member of the Commodores, trumpeter Bruce
PARSONS, later said:
"Stan was bound and determined to play that horn up to the day
he died, and
by God, he did."
On Sunday morning, he and Margaret received Holy Communion, and
then, in the afternoon, went with Friends on a Thousand Islands
cruise followed by a massed bands tattoo at Fort Henry in Kingston.
While the bands played Stan's own arrangement of the New Maple
Leaf Forever, a vicious electrical storm broke. Stan hurried
off to the bus to get umbrellas for the ladies. Then he collapsed.
At Stan's packed funeral service, Reverend Peter
JOYCE gave thanks
for Stan's life, and then quoted the song The Commodores always
play at the evening's close -- "We'll meet again, /Don't know
where, /Don't know when, /But I know we'll meet again/Some sunny
day." Amen to that.
L. Bruce CRONK has been a friend of Stan's since their boyhood.
W... Names WI... Names WIG... Names Welcome Home
WIGGINS - All Categories in OGSPI