29/10/2019 5:37 pm  #1


Wig Wiggins

It is with great sadness that I must let you know that Wig died today peacefully at home. His daughter Joanne has just phoned Michael Crampton and she has asked him to thank you all for your attention and concern during Wig's illness and also for your friendship over so many years. Wig was alert to the end and passed peacefully. RIP

Last edited by Malcolm Macfarlane (30/10/2019 7:10 am)

 

29/10/2019 6:18 pm  #2


Re: Wig Wiggins

RIP Wig.
We had a nice talk after Hofstra meeting on the train into NYC.
You’re probably having a ‘wee dram’ now with Bing and your wife.

 

29/10/2019 6:48 pm  #3


Re: Wig Wiggins

A great loss. Wig and I worked together in identifying alternative takes and he impressed me very much with his extensive knowledge and depth of research. He was very much the senior partner, seemingly miraculously producing recordings that he thought might be worthy of further investigation. Our transatlantic exchanges were a mixture of packages of CDRs containing recorded examples with detailed notes and emails spaced over some days because Wig relied on computers at his local library, which he visited once or twice a week.

RIP Wig

 

30/10/2019 1:01 am  #4


Re: Wig Wiggins

Wig was one of the first Bing fans I came in contact with when I joined the Bing Crosby fan clubs back in 1990. He was a great collector and an even greater friend.

I will miss him.

 

30/10/2019 1:31 am  #5


Re: Wig Wiggins

I never had the privilege of meeting Wig, but his very name was an enormous presence in the Crosby world, and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude for his untiring work over many, many years in the promotion of Bing’s legacy. RIP.

 

30/10/2019 7:20 am  #6


Re: Wig Wiggins

Lee, think there is some confusion here. Laura Wiggins died in March 2007 and also Wig did not have Alzheimer's. Are you getting confused with Wayne Martin?

     Thread Starter
 

30/10/2019 11:47 am  #7


Re: Wig Wiggins

Archiefit wrote:

I had many pleasant conversations with Wig back in the day.  He'd send me his home made new CD release catalogs of Bing and others to buy from him.   He got Bing CDs you couldn't find elsewhere.  If I had a request I would talk to him on the phone and he'd find it.   In particular I remember after seeing Kate Smith singing "Christmas Eve In My Hometown" on Hollywood Palace I really wanted to find the Kate Christmas album with that song.  I thought I'd only find a used album of it.   Wig told me he goes to all sorts of record and CD selling meets and he'd keep an eye out for for me.   9 or 10 months later I asked him did you ever find that Kate Smith Christmas album?   He said, OH you're the one who asked me about that.  I forgot who wanted it but I found a CD of it and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since.   So I was thrilled to not only just get an album but was really happy to find out it was on a CD and Wig was selling it to me.  

The last time I called some years back Wig's wife answered and told me she was handling the remaining Bing business that Wig could no longer do it.   I had heard he has Alzheimer's disease.  Such a sparkling personality and nice man.   I am sorry to now hear this.   I hope he didn't suffer.   If he was alert then I'm happy. 
God Bless Wig and RIP my old friend.

I know exactly who Lee is talking about. Lee, you are thinking of Chick Wilson. He had Alzheimers. He was a great guy as well. I wonder what happened to him?

Wig was the American Representative for the ICC (International Club Crosby) for years. Another great man.
 

 

30/10/2019 5:55 pm  #8


Re: Wig Wiggins

There are many reasons why the "Crosby Community" owe an enormous debt of gratitude to "Wig".
I am sure that there will be tributes to him in a future issue of "Bing" in which no doubt his achievements will be recounted but I will take this opportunity to cover just a couple.
 
He was very active in keeping the Crosby name alive and was instrumental - or the initiator - in compiling and issuing several very well regarded compilations covering some of Bing's otherwise neglected recordings. 

He also compiled some extraordinarily useful discographies. Any long term fan will have come across his name and the members of ICC in North America will have had much direct communication with him on numerous occasions.

   

 

30/10/2019 6:26 pm  #9


Re: Wig Wiggins

Richard Baker wrote:

There are many reasons why the "Crosby Community" owe an enormous debt of gratitude to "Wig".
I am sure that there will be tributes to him in a future issue of "Bing" in which no doubt his achievements will be recounted but I will take this opportunity to cover just a couple.
 
He was very active in keeping the Crosby name alive and was instrumental - or the initiator - in compiling and issuing several very well regarded compilations covering some of Bing's otherwise neglected recordings. 

He also compiled some extraordinarily useful discographies. Any long term fan will have come across his name and the members of ICC in North America will have had much direct communication with him on numerous occasions.

   

Well said. He was such a kind man as well. When my Grandfather died in 2002, he sent a beautiful sympathy card that I still have.

I am a better Bing fan and collector because of Wig.

 

16/11/2019 6:23 pm  #10


Re: Wig Wiggins

The funeral directors now have an interesting and extensive obituary.
The following is a transcript
Frontis Burbank Wiggins Jr.
APRIL 7, 1929 – OCTOBER 29, 2019

Frontis Burbank (Wig) Wiggins, Jr., retired Foreign Service Officer and internationally recognized Bing Crosby expert, died on October 29, 2019, at his home in Arlington, Virginia at the age of 90.

He was born in Thomasville, Georgia, on April 7, 1929 to Frontis Burbank and Emma Louise (King) Wiggins and grew up in Albany, Georgia, where his father owned a small business. After earning an Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Tech (1950), he attended the University of Birmingham, England, on a Rotary Club scholarship, leaving in 1951 with a Graduate Commerce (MBA) degree plus lifelong friendships with fellow students and a permanent disgust for Brussels sprouts. While working for Standard Oil in Baton Rouge in 1952, he was called to naval service. After the Korean War he entered the University of California at Berkeley on the GI Bill, earning a 1956 Master of Political Science for his thesis on the election dispute that in 1946 briefly left Georgia with 3 simultaneous governors.

He entered the Foreign Service in 1956 and served his country at home and abroad for nearly 35 years. His first posts were Kenya and Guatemala, followed by Indonesia, where in 1960 he married an Embassy colleague, Laura Ponnone of Farmington, Connecticut, and where their daughter Joanne was born. His next post, Italy, was the birthplace of his son, Frontis Burbank III. His next overseas appointment was Deputy Chief of Mission (and frequent Chargé d’Affaires) for Malta. After serving on, then heading, the Board of Examiners (which selects new Foreign Service officers), his final post was U.S. Consul for Brisbane, Australia. He retired in 1991.

He loved music of all kinds, from Hot Jazz and the Weavers to opera and Broadway, but his favorite by far was Bing Crosby. He was a serious collector, serving for decades as the American Representative for the International Club Crosby. He developed enduring friendships with Bing enthusiasts all over the world and contributed to the preservation of Crosby’s musical legacy. His encouragement sustained John McNicholas’ mission to issue all Bing’s recordings via the Chronological Bing Crosby, AKA the Jonzo Series. In 2015, he and co-author Jim Reilly published “The Definitive Bing Crosby Discography: From 78s to CDs.” He was invited by MCA records to edit a series of re-issues of Bing’ recordings, and he selected the music for over a dozen CDs featuring Bing’s wide range, including 21 gold records, Hawaiian, Irish, and Western songs, and of course Christmas music, the genre Bing pioneered. He was also closely involved with Hofstra University’s 2002 “Bing! Crosby and American Culture” conference.

He lost his wife Laura in 2007 after 47 years of devoted partnership. He is survived by his brother, James Marvin (Adele Cooke), of Glen Eden Beach, Oregon, his daughter, Joanne (Shelley Platt), of Richmond, and his son, Frontis Burbank III, and grandson, Frontis Burbank (Primo) IV, of Fairfax.

To view the original follow this link which additionally has details of services occurring today, 16th November - 

  https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/arlington-va/frontis-wiggins-8907487

 

10/12/2019 6:04 am  #11


Re: Wig Wiggins

Thank you. What a splendid photo of Wig.

 

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