A Heart as Big as Texas

When I started working on the G. Oliver Riggs project with my dad six years ago, connecting with extended family members I’d never met was not my main goal. But as we got deeper into the project, we made an effort to locate these seemingly long-lost cousins and second cousins so we could keep them informed and also exchange information, if they were interested.

I knew I had some second cousins who had lived in Houston, Texas, back in the 70s because my grandmother Eleanor Riggs had visited them (and had taken photos). So on a whim in spring 2008, I tried to find the youngest one on Facebook. It worked! Brian kindly responded to my inquiry, and through him I eventually connected with his sister Kae and his brother, Chris.

Chris, on left, opens an Evel Knievel toy in December 1973 as Brian watches.

Chris and I only conversed via email a handful of times, but I could tell he was a great guy. He was friendly, open, generous, and had a fun sense of humor. He told me in our first conversation that he had only seen a few pictures of his grandfather, Percy Riggs, and didn’t know his real name was Percy; he’d only heard him referred to as Pete. He was interested in learning more (Percy died about three years before Chris was born), so my dad and I both sent him some photos and information.

Almost exactly a year ago – on Jan. 5, 2012 – he surprised me with a research question of his own: did G. Oliver ever carry a pocket watch that he would have handed down to Percy? Chris wondered because his grandma (Percy’s wife, Patricia) had given him a watch that had belonged to Percy. Because the watch was manufactured in 1892, long before Percy was born, Chris thought perhaps the watch had been given to G. Oliver as a gift when he started his first job at the Iowa Wesleyan Conservatory of Music.

The pocket watch that had belonged to Grandpa Pete, aka Percy Riggs.

“I would be happy to see this watch somehow stay with someone in the Riggs family as it did belong to Pete, regardless of its origin,” he wrote. “It was working before it got packed away for around five years and now would need to be serviced ... If y’all would like to have it, just give me an address to send it to and I will do so.”

I told Chris I thought he was right about the watch, and I gratefully accepted it from him. [I wrote about the watch a year ago in this blog post, Time for a Pocket Watch Mystery.]

I hadn’t communicated much with Chris since that time, except for wishing him a happy birthday back in September – it was his 50th. So when I learned through his sister Kae that he died on Christmas Day in a fire at his home, I didn’t believe it at first. I didn’t want to believe it. How could this 6-foot, 3-inch Texan who was so full of life be gone, just like that?

I still don’t want to believe it, and I am so sorry for his family because I know they are hurting as they cope with the loss. In his obituary, which his sister Kae wrote, she describes him as someone who colored outside the lines as a kid and lived that way as an adult, “afraid of nothing and trying everything,” an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed cooking, loved animals and had “a heart as big as Texas.”

A celebration of Chris’ life is set for tomorrow afternoon at a funeral home in Friendsville, Texas. I can’t attend, but I will certainly be there in spirit. 

Here is the full text of his obituary:

Christopher Riggs Duncan

9/28/1962 - 12/25/2012

Christopher Riggs Duncan, 50, of Needville, Texas passed away on Christmas day after spending the day with friends, doing what he loved. Chris was born in San Diego, California but spent his entire life in Texas and considered himself a native Texan.  He graduated from Memorial High School in Houston and successfully owned and operated a microfiche business for many years before technology put him out of business. With an incredible work ethic, Chris worked for TTX Corporation as a Maintenance Specialist for over 16 years.

Chris colored outside the lines when he was young and this was exactly how he lived his life, afraid of nothing and trying everything. On a pretty day, he loved to disappear on his motorcycle for a long ride throughout the countryside. He developed a love of cooking at an early age and he found it hard to resist a cook-off of any kind and has the trophies to prove it. He was an avid outdoorsman, who loved to hunt and fish, especially with his dad. He was a card carrying member of the National Rifle Association, his mechanical prowess was admired by all, he never met a stranger, could not say no to any animal that happened to find their way to his home and had a heart as big as Texas.

He is survived by his mother, Islea Duncan of Appomattox, Virginia; his father, William Christopher Duncan and his wife, Evalyn of Lakeland, Florida; his brother Brian Duncan of San Diego, California; two sisters, Patrice Duncan and Kae Kessler of Appomattox, Virginia; two step sisters, Melynda Wasson of Lakeland, Florida, Valerie Wayman of Washington, DC; two step brothers, Will Wasson of New Orleans, Louisiana, Eric Wasson of Houston, Texas; one nephew, Bradley Winter of Appomattox, Virginia; one niece, Kaelyn Kessler of Richmond, Virginia; four German Shepards and a Labrador Retriever.

A Celebration of Chris’ life will take place on Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 2:00 P.M. at the Jeter Memorial Funeral Home Chapel, 311 N. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas 77546 (281) 992-7200 with Rev. Keith Massey officiating.

Condolences may be sent to the Duncan Family in care of Jeter Funeral Home at www.jeterfuneralhome.com.