Ken Wiggins:
CLASS OF 1964
Laurelwood AcademyClass of 1964
Gaston, OR
Ken's Story
I will give a short history of myself and my family since leaving Laurelwood Academy.
In the fall of 1964 I enrolled at Walla Walla College with a major in mathematics. I met JoAnn Werth in the spring of 1965, and we were married in the summer of 1966. She supported me in college and graduate school through a PhD degree, which is necessary for those seeking employment as a college professor. We had a son, Michael, in the spring of 1969. When we returned to WWC, it was my turn to support JoAnn's education. She finished college at WWC and went to the university of Idaho to get a PhD. We both taught at WWC (now WWU) for many years, she in the school of business and I in the department of mathematics. We are now retired and loving it.
Now for the bad, really bad, stuff. Our son died of cancer when he was 25 years old and just after his second wedding anniversary. That is something a parent never gets over, but time has helped. We remain very close to his widow and her family. She married a good man and has 4 sons, one of whom is majoring in math a...Expand for more
t Cal Poly. They live in Paso Robles, and we see them at least once a year. In the meantime we have many phone conversations.
A year after Michael died we started traveling during summers and teaching in other colleges. We spent summers in Singapore and Australia, with shorter trips to Thailand, Kenya, and Italy. We spent enough time in these places to make friends.
I became paralyzed from my armpits down in 2007 after having a routine vaccination. Life after paralysis is different but still a good life. Before COVID I regularly played wheelchair racquetball and spent time in the WWU fitness center. I learned to be independent enough that JoAnn can take trips. Once she went to Jordan and Israel on an archaeology trip with Doug and Carmen (Mosser) Clark and a group of students. Another time she went to Rwanda to teach a class, and she got to see Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat. While she is gone I am able to independently drive our car. Getting my wheelchair in the car involves an interesting process and good arm strength.
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