March 21, 1930 - October 26, 2012
Quentin and his parents, Cecil and Vivian Riggs, moved to Oklahoma City in 1941 from Wichita, Kansas, where he was born. He was graduated from Classen High School in 1948 and received a BA degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in 1955. He was active at First Christian Church from 1949 to 1959 in the Cathedral Choir, the Twilight Time Chorale, and the musical shows and operettas in the Twilight Time summer concert series, as well as many Jewel Box Theatre productions. He worked in several foreign countries during the 1960s as an employee of the U.S. Department of
State. Quentin married the love of his life, Evelyn McSharry, in 1963 while stationed in Sydney, Australia. After Quentin left the Foreign Service, he and Evelyn lived in Huntington Beach, Calif., where he sang in the Hour of Power Choir at the Crystal Cathedral and the California Men's Chorale. Quentin and Evelyn returned to Oklahoma in 1993 upon his retirement from a job with the State of California. He was a recognized authority on early recording artists, about whom he wrote many magazine articles, and he was co-author of a 1997 biography of Billy Murray, a leading singer of the early phonograph years. The book is titled Billy Murray: the Phonograph Industry’s First Great Recording Artist and was described as a “stunning achievement” by the Paragon Ragtime News. Quentin is survived by his wife, Evelyn; his brother and sister-in-law, Richard and Judy Riggs; and a host of nieces, nephews and extended family members in the United States and Europe. Funeral mass will be 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Daily Mass Chapel in Edmond, OK with interment to follow at Memorial Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to the American Heart Association, 5700 N. Portland, Suite 203, Oklahoma City, OK 73112
Services entrusted to the care of Baggerley Funeral Home of Edmond, OK. www.baggerley.com
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