John Phillip Biggs

Born to celebrate and explore the world, John Phillip Biggs arrived on June 6, 1930 in Oak Park, Illinois to Maxine Virginia Satchell and Lee Biggs. He was the second of five children. He remembers attending the 1934 World's Fair in Chicago and traveling, terrified, in a suspended car between two giant towers. As a child he was fascinated by electronics, chemistry, physics, radio, and aerodynamics – interests that anticipated his life-long career as an engineer.

He spent his high school years in Burley, Idaho Falls, and Salt Lake City where he took advantage of every opportunity that came his way, including milking cows, frightening trick or treaters with a homemade high voltage device and speakers in a tree, and running KALL 910, a radio station in SLC.

After receiving a BS in electrical engineering from The University of Utah (1952), he went to work for GE where he remained for 40 years. He worked at various locations, including Schenectady and Trinidad (West Indies) before settling permanently in Syracuse, New York, where he picked up an MS in professional engineering at Syracuse University (1971). He spent the lion's share of his career working on radar and sonar projects (some top secret) for the military, and he once spent a month with his family in sunny southern California on business. Of his pioneering work in sonar, he was fond of saying, "Most whales think it's deplorable."

He met Ruth Russell, a new LDS convert, in 1945. They were married in 1947 in Ruth's Jamesville, NY home, then sealed 2 weeks later in the Logan, Utah temple. In helping to raise three children, John became an ardent supporter of flute, guitar, and drum lessons; recitals and concerts; science projects; boy scout and girl scout adventures; and bike rides along the Erie Canal. The family visited Green Lakes, the Hill Cumorah, Niagara Falls, Toronto, the Adirondacks, Hershey (PA), the Amish Country, and other nearby points of interest. Many summers found the family taking ambitious three-week vacations to Utah, with plenty of car camping along the way, which allowed the children to see large swaths of the country. All three children later served international LDS missions: Johnny in Canada, Jacqui in Peru, and Mark in Thailand.

John was a genealogist par excellence, a plumber and handyman, an auto mechanic, and an endless tinkerer. He had a reputation for helping out wherever he was needed, whether that meant working as a church librarian, fixing computers, wiring a basement, helping a child move cross country, organizing family reunions or celebrating immigrant progenitors who settled in Cache Valley. He served diligently in a variety of church callings and was known as a patient and extremely reliable leader. Among other callings he worked as Young Men's President, Elders Quorum President, and Bishopric Counselor. He also served on the High Council for 20 years and in the Syracuse Stake Presidency for 11 years.

He was devoted to his wife, Ruth ("Sistie") and accompanied her on travels worldwide, to Thailand, Peru, England, Canada, Alaska and Hawaii, and several European countries, though he was happiest tinkering in his basement, garage, and office in pursuit of one project or another. He also prided himself in being prepared and always had rubber bands, band aids, pocket knives, flashlights, and tweezers at the ready. He found a special way of connecting with his grandchildren by providing secret candy caches around the house, a different hiding spot for each child, with sweets stashed in tiny envelopes with the child's name and picture on it. These were replenished on a daily basis, and there were even a few emergency stashes for visiting friends.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth Biggs, and three children: Johnny (Michele) Biggs, Jacqui (Lance) Larsen, and Mark (Jewelee) Biggs. He and Ruth have nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by both of his parents (Lee and Maxine Biggs) and all four of his siblings (Janice, Noel, Maren, and Paul).

The day he fell and broke his hip (which led to surgery and a stroke), he was taking the garbage out early in the morning, an event he meticulously calendared each week. When Jacqui emptied his pockets in the emergency room, this is what she found: wallet, nail clippers, comb, key ring and digital library card, two quarters, and a pair of matching aluminum flashlights (one red, one blue), both with carabiner clip-ons. He believed one should always be ready to shine a light into dark places.

On Saturday, January 14, 2023, John's immediate family and grandchildren held a memorial gathering to celebrate the life of their father and grandfather. All the grandchildren received one of John's small flashlights as a remembrance. Interment was at Springville Evergreen Cemetery.