2008 Woodie Awards
'Tommy lived like it mattered'
PSU associate athletics director dies at 32
Doug Graham
Issue date: 7/26/07 Section: Front Page
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With crimson and gold flowers spread across the stage at Memorial Auditorium during the funeral of Tommy Riggs, one fact became all too clear:
Pittsburg State University has lost an integral member of its team.
Riggs, who died on Saturday, July 21, of a heart attack, was 32. He had worked at PSU since he was 22, serving the last nine years as associate athletics director for marketing and promotions.
Riggs is survived by his parents, his sister Leslie Gammon, his brother Mitch, and four nephews. His grandparents preceded him in death.
Memorial Auditorium was packed on Wednesday with family, friends and co-workers who came to pay their respects. But although many were weeping, the mood was not all somber.
"Tommy's heart gave out physically, but his spirit and what he brought, will never leave us," said Kendall Gammon, a former PSU football player and brother-in-law of Riggs, who delivered a eulogy at the service. "Tommy lived like it mattered, and it always will."
Gammon, who is now a long-snapper for the Kansas City Chiefs, described a man who was passionate about his friends, his family and his work, so much that "it gets very, very hard to differentiate between the three."
He said Riggs' work ethic was shown in the fact that Riggs became the president of the Chamber of Commerce in his native Chetopa at age 17.
"He immersed himself in everything," Gammon said.
Gammon said Riggs was a figure known from coast to coast for his work at PSU and for his warm personality.
"People looked to him for advice nationally," said Gammon, who attributes the construction of Carnie Smith Stadium, Brandenburg Field and Gorilla Village, at least in part, to Riggs' efforts.
While Gammon spoke for the longest part of the service, which started at 11 a.m. and ended around noon, Thomas Stroot, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, officiated.
His message was also one of peace:
"God sends us on a mission, and when we've completed our mission, we get to go back to Him," Stroot said.
Stroot then related a story about Riggs' childhood collection of keys and padlocks.
"When he was in the eighth grade, they told me he had a master key to the school!" Stroot said. "Obviously, Tommy unlocked many doors for PSU and particularly the athletic department. So the question is, what did Tommy Riggs unlock for you?"
Dan Wilkes, sports information director and longtime friend, says that a memorial scholarship fund has been established in his name.
"This will be something that will help future Gorillas for the foreseeable future," Wilkes said. "That's something Tommy would've been very happy with."
Pittsburg State University has lost an integral member of its team.
Riggs, who died on Saturday, July 21, of a heart attack, was 32. He had worked at PSU since he was 22, serving the last nine years as associate athletics director for marketing and promotions.
Riggs is survived by his parents, his sister Leslie Gammon, his brother Mitch, and four nephews. His grandparents preceded him in death.
Memorial Auditorium was packed on Wednesday with family, friends and co-workers who came to pay their respects. But although many were weeping, the mood was not all somber.
"Tommy's heart gave out physically, but his spirit and what he brought, will never leave us," said Kendall Gammon, a former PSU football player and brother-in-law of Riggs, who delivered a eulogy at the service. "Tommy lived like it mattered, and it always will."
Gammon, who is now a long-snapper for the Kansas City Chiefs, described a man who was passionate about his friends, his family and his work, so much that "it gets very, very hard to differentiate between the three."
He said Riggs' work ethic was shown in the fact that Riggs became the president of the Chamber of Commerce in his native Chetopa at age 17.
"He immersed himself in everything," Gammon said.
Gammon said Riggs was a figure known from coast to coast for his work at PSU and for his warm personality.
"People looked to him for advice nationally," said Gammon, who attributes the construction of Carnie Smith Stadium, Brandenburg Field and Gorilla Village, at least in part, to Riggs' efforts.
While Gammon spoke for the longest part of the service, which started at 11 a.m. and ended around noon, Thomas Stroot, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, officiated.
His message was also one of peace:
"God sends us on a mission, and when we've completed our mission, we get to go back to Him," Stroot said.
Stroot then related a story about Riggs' childhood collection of keys and padlocks.
"When he was in the eighth grade, they told me he had a master key to the school!" Stroot said. "Obviously, Tommy unlocked many doors for PSU and particularly the athletic department. So the question is, what did Tommy Riggs unlock for you?"
Dan Wilkes, sports information director and longtime friend, says that a memorial scholarship fund has been established in his name.
"This will be something that will help future Gorillas for the foreseeable future," Wilkes said. "That's something Tommy would've been very happy with."
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