Joseph Wade Wiggins' Obituary
Joseph Wade Wiggins, 92, Ft. Myers, FL, died January 11. He was born in Tipton, Indiana on September 11, 1921 to the late William Ray Wiggins and Bessie Maureen Cochran Wiggins. He was graduated from Tipton High School and completed his collegiate studies in 1942 at Purdue University, majoring in Aeronautical Propulsion Engineering. He worked for Thiokol Chemical Corporation (Huntsville, AL) in the field of solid propellant rocketry as applied to rockets, guided missiles, space and re-entry systems and large space boosters, and also managed the Alpha Division at Brunswick, GA. As Vice-President, at the corporate offices in Bristol, PA he served as President of Shawnee (OK) Industries, a Thiokol subsidiary, and as Group Vice-President of 8 Rocket Divisions. He completed the Senior Executive Management Program at MIT. He later returned to the U.S. Navy as a Program Director of the Navy High Energy Laser Program in Silver Spring, MD. His love of sailing was a passion throughout his life and he enjoyed many voyages to the Caribbean. He loved convertibles as well, his first being a 1929 Ford in Purdue colors (paid $25); his current car being a 2002 Pontiac TransAm. He is survived by his sister, Hope Barnes of Muncie, IN; children, Patricia Stevens, Jo Lynn (Gary) High and William Cavat (Yashmina) Wiggins; grandchildren, Kelly Stevens, Alison (Corey) Gavitt, Colby (Heidi) Knight, Joshua (Emma) Knight, Patricia (Nirav) Raval, Joceline Wiggins and Bonnie Wiggins. He is also survived by eleven great-grandchildren. Services will be held at a later date in Tipton, Indiana.
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