By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-111-70.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.111.70) on Monday, May 07, 2007 - 8:58 am: Edit Post |
A Photo Essay: Returned Volunteers and Staff honor Peace Corps Architect Warren Wiggins at Memorial Service in Manassas, Virginia
A Photo Essay: Returned Volunteers and Staff honor Peace Corps Architect Warren Wiggins at Memorial Service in Manassas, Virginia
Returned Volunteers and Staff join in to honor Peace Corps Architect Warren Wiggins at Memorial Service in Virginia
PCOL Exclusive
May 4, 2007
All Content and Photos in this Article Licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
All Photos: PCOL Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
Note: All photography at the event was taken with the permission of the Wiggins family to document the Memorial Service honoring Warren Wiggins and celebrate his life.
Returned Volunteers and Staff came to the "Bull Run Unitarian Universalists' Church" in Manassas last Friday, May 4 to attend a Memorial Service for Peace Corps Architect Warren Wiggins.
RPCVs and Peace Corps Staff attending the memorial service included former Peace Corps Country Director for Ethiopia and Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford, former Country Director for Togo and Niger and later Peace Corps Africa Regional Director and President of Africare C. Payne Lucas and his wife, Sierra Leone RPCV and NPCA Chairman Emeritus Pat Reilly and her husband Philippines RPCV Dick Irish, NPCA President and Thailand RPCV Kevin Quigley, and David Arnold, Editor of NPCA's Worldview magazine. Other RPCVs and Staff attending included Kevin Lowther of Africare, Gretchen Handwerger, Ruth McKennzie Scott, B. J. Warren, and Carolyn Ramsey.
Mrs. Edna Wiggins (seated) and her children were the hosts for the event honoring her husband and their father and celebrating his life.
Inside the church Peace Corps Volunteers and Staff like former Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn (right) met and remembered the life of Peace Corps Architect Warren Wiggins.
The Memorial Service began at 1 pm with Gathering Music played by Annease Hastings on the piano.
Reverend Lou Mitchell gave the Opening Words and Prayer of Thanksgiving.
The choir and congregation sang "Gather the Spirit."
John Bender read a selection from the writings of Warren Wiggins from a boy of 6 who wanted to "lasso the moon" to a young man who served in the Army Air Forces during World War II flying transport planes "over the Hump" in the China-India-Burma theater where he received a Distinguished Flying Cross.
The choir sang the anthem "Fire of Commitment."
From the light of days remembered burns a beacon bright and clear
Guiding hands and hearts and spirits into faith set free from fear.
When the fire of commitment sets our mind and soul ablaze,
When our hunger and our passion meet to call us on our way,
When we live with deep assurance of the flame that burns within,
Then our promise finds fulfillment and our future can begin.
words by Mary Katherine Morn and Jason Shelton
Philippines RPCV Dick Irish asked how many members of the memorial service had served either in the Peace Corps or with TransCentury and then gave his personal tribute to Warren Wiggins remembering how Wiggins gave him his first job at Peace Corps Headquarters after he returned after his service in the Philippines, how he went with Wiggins to the first TransCentury offices in Washington DC, Wiggins' management style, and the first government contracts.
Faye Cowan rose and read excerpts from a letter from a group in Sierra Leone who came together through TransCentury and are still working for the goals of social justice twenty years later.
The BRVV Adult Chior sang "God in my Head."
Reverend Nancy McDonald Ladd gave the eulogy to Warren Wiggins recalling his many contributions and the love his family and friends had for him.
The Wiggins famiy invited all the guests to stay for light refreshments in the Fellowship Hall after the Memorial Service.
Warren Wiggins once said of former Peace Corps Director Jack Hood Vaughn (right with Africare President emeritus C. Payne Lucas): "I worked more with Vaughn than any other person in my life, four separate long-term assignments, back to back. Mostly I have co-workers; Vaughn was a friend. Vaughn and I traveled at length in Bolivia together, the two of us, when we were both in the ICA Mission to Bolivia. He's got a lot of Teddy Roosevelt in him. He was a former prizefighter. On the other hand, he's cautious, conservative and sometimes not terribly involved in some of the broader sweep of things. Vaughn stands up and is counted and is determined. He is a good administrator. he is an excellent person. He is my friend."
Warren Wiggins once said of Harris Wofford (left speaking with Africare Country Director Kevin Lowther (center) and Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn (right): "He was very important to Shriver. The most important things Wofford brought was his influence as a sounding board, an initiator and a friend of Shriver. He was an enormous help to me personally."
Mrs. Edna Wiggins (right) spoke with Sunday Pickens about her husband Warren Wiggins.
Mrs. Edna Wiggins, widow of Peace Corps Architect Warren Wiggins, with (left to right) Director Jack Vaughn, Senator Harris Wofford, and Peace Corps Online Publisher and Co-Editor Hugh Pickens near the end of the reception.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: May, 2007; Obituaries; Staff; Jack Vaughn (Director 1966- 1969); Religion; The Greatest Generation; Maryland; District of Columbia; Virginia
When this story was posted in May 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:Read the stories and leave your comments.
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
PCOL serves half million
PCOL's readership for April exceeded 525,000 visitors - a 50% increase over last year. This year also saw the advent of a new web site: Peace Corps News that together with the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps serve 17,000 RPCVs, Staff, and Friends of the Peace Corps every day. Thanks for making PCOL your source of news for the Peace Corps community. Read more.
Suspect confesses in murder of PCV
Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences .
Warren Wiggins: Architect of the Peace Corps
Warren Wiggins, who died at 84 on April 13, became one of the architects of the Peace Corps in 1961 when his paper, "A Towering Task," landed in the lap of Sargent Shriver, just as Shriver was trying to figure out how to turn the Peace Corps into a working federal department. Shriver was electrified by the treatise, which urged the agency to act boldly. Read Mr. Wiggins' obituary and biography, take an opportunity to read the original document that shaped the Peace Corps' mission, and read John Coyne's special issue commemorating "A Towering Task."
The Peace Corps Library
The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin Board. New: Sign up to receive our free Monthly Magazine by email, research the History of the Peace Corps, or sign up for a daily news summary of Peace Corps stories. FAQ: Visit our FAQ for more information about PCOL.
Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps
Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.
He served with honor
One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.
Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director
Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make recruitment of baby boomers a priority, there are 20 countries under consideration for future programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session, Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management at PC may not put volunteers first, Dodd wants Tschetter to look into problems in medical selection, and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs. Read our recap of the hearings as well as Senator Coleman's statement and Tschetter's statement.
Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance
The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.
The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again
The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.
PCOL readership increases 100%
Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.
History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.