George Thomas Riggs ’59

Tom was struck by a police cruiser Sept. 24, 2007, while crossing Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he died three weeks later, on Oct. 15.

Tom was born into an Army family at West Point, N.Y. His ancestors included four military academy graduates, three of whom were general officers. Graduating at the top of his class from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, Tom fenced and ran track with the freshmen at Princeton, headed Key and Seal’s I.A.A. program as a senior, and graduated with honors in history.

Following graduation Tom earned a master’s in history from the University of Illinois, where he also completed requirements for a Ph.D. in history. He entered the Army in 1963 and served two years as a military-intelligence officer, being decorated for service in Vietnam. Then followed service as an analyst at the State Department’s Latin American desk, and careers in classified research, teaching, antique sales, and consulting.

Tom was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Our classmate, the Rev. Kent Smith, co-celebrated a requiem eucharist, with Jon Rickert as a reader. Both had been roommates of Tom’s at Princeton.

Tom never married. He is survived by two brothers, two nieces, and two nephews.