Finis E. Wiggins

Dr. Finis Ewing Wiggins, Jr., 96 of San Bernardino passed away at St. Bernadine Medical Center on March 11, 2010. He was a resident of San Bernardino for 70 years and worked as a physician for 45 years.

Dr. Wiggins or “Pete” as he was known to his friends, was a hard working man who was dedicated to his family, his practice of Medicine and studying. To quote one of his favorite sayings; “all work and no play makes Jack.” Interestingly he was a proficient plumber and used that skill to earn money to pay for his medical education. In 1943, he graduated from Loma Linda University (College of Medical Evangelists) and began his internship at L.A. County and White Memorial Hospitals where he devoted his time largely to female medical and surgical conditions. His internship was interrupted when he was called into the military in World War II. Upon returning from military service in 1946 he worked in the anatomy department at Loma Linda University and in 1947 entered into his private practice in San Bernardino. He retired from his medical career in 1988. Dr. Wiggins was a member of the American Medical Association, California Medical Association, co-founder of the Gynecologic Urology Society, San Bernardino Medical Society, NRA, Republican Party and a charter member of the Arrowhead Country Club. He served as the President of the medical staffs at St. Bernardino Medical Center (1949) and San Bernardino Community Hospital (1965) and was the City Health Officer (1948-1951). His commitment to education was exemplified by the receipt of the Distinguished Humanitarian Award at the 2009 Loma Linda Medical School graduation.

Survivors include his wife Martha; two daughters Marilyn Miller, Charlyn Gebeau; three sons Don Wiggins, Curtis “Cisco” Wiggins and Richard Wiggins; his sister Lois Thomsen; 14 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Dr. Wiggins will be held on April 3, 2010 at 4:00pm at Mt. View Mortuary Chapel, 570 E Highland Ave. Inurnment was private at Mt. View Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that in celebration and appreciation of his life, contributions may be made payable to “Alumni Association, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University” (with a notation for the Centennial Tuition Scholarship Endowment Fund in memorial of Finis E. Wiggins, M.D.) and mailed to 11245 Anderson Street, Suite 200, Loma Linda, CA 92354 Attn: Karen Sutton. Please visit www.mtviewsanbernardino.com to leave condolences and view a complete biography.

Arrangements Entrusted to

Mt. View Cemetery and Mortuary

(909) 882-2943

A LETTER FROM RICHARD WIGGINS

My Father was one of the most complex people I have ever known in my life. One of the true American, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, stories. Dad grew up poor and never forgot his roots. He never wasted money, except maybe on his kids, but he also took time to enjoy some of the finer things in life. He always said “Hard work makes Jack” but he would also add in other times, when I told him how much I had been working, that “sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses.” He was always quick to give, especially to people in need and to his children. Dad never wanted recognition for his gifts. He once donated money to my elementary school to build a new building. I was told to keep it secret and no one ever knew of his gift. I also remember when my YMCA swim club didn’t have the money to send us to the national swimming meet and dad stepped in and paid for the whole trip. Once again no one knew of his gift. Dad gave not for recognition, but for the pure pleasure of making others happy and helping them. He knew what it meant not to have money and enjoyed helping others and making sure his children had everything he hadn’t. He was old school, work hard, support your family and make sure your children have what they need especially opportunities in life and an education.

Peter and I and my friend Kris decided we were going to rebuild the motor in Peter’s Honda Civic and needless to say we destroyed it. I will never forget Dad coming out and look at the mess and only saying “education is expensive.” Of course Dad ended up buying a motor for Peter’s car. Or the Time Peter and I and my friend Matt went to Alaska to work for the summer. Dad was opposed to it but he still had the transmission in the car rebuilt before we left and pushed money in our hands as we headed out the driveway. He also gave us books to read while we where there and when we finally started reading them we found Dad had put money in them.

Dad was from the time when men did not show emotions, men didn’t hug and sure didn’t tell each other they loved each other. As Dad got older though, he softened and I can remember the first time he gave me a hug and said I love you after I had told him the same. As a child I often saw Dad as a scary imposing person, the strict disciplinarian. But as I got older I realized he was actually a big softy who found it very hard to say no when I wanted something. He also always talked a good game but I know it was always harder on him than me when I had to be disciplined. As I have grown older I realize more and more how much I was spoiled throughout my entire life by him.

One of Dad’s big loves in life was duck and dove hunting and I got the chance to share that with him. I remember having six set of clothes on, so much I could barely move, to stay warm. While Dad sat in the duck blind with only a pair of thermal underwear and a set of Camoes. Dad could shoot a shotgun better than anyone I knew. I can remember a time at the trap range when Dad busted 50 out of 50 birds on the 16 yard line with a full choke. All the guys at the club couldn’t believe he did that with a full choke. I remember the trips to the dairy as a child where he taught me how to shoot. I will never forget when dad got me my first rifle. I wanted a semi automatic and he brought me a single shot .22. At the time I was incredibly disappointed but now as I look back I know why he did it, and it was a smart choice. No one could ever really say dad had much respect for gaming laws but the outlaw in him made it all that much more fun and exciting. I will never forget him explaining to me how to spread bird seed for a Dove hunt so it wasn’t obvious. Or the time we killed over a hundred ducks in one day when the limit was 5. Like other things in life, limits meant nothing to him. He dreamed big, bet big in business and real estate, won big and lost big.

Saturday night’s Dad would sit in his leather chair and me on the floor and we would watch The Lawrence Welk Show together. He developed an appreciation for “pretty music” in me from all those years of watching that show. I also remember Dad sitting down with me every Sunday night and Watching Wild Kingdom and The Walt Disney Show. Those were are special times together, three of the few shows that bridged the generation gap. Much of my own politics were shaped as a small child watching Walter Cronkite with Dad during the Vietnam War. Dad always provided commentary on the news and how “those damn liberals” were destroying America. Later in Life I would sit with Dad and listen to Rush Limbaugh with much of the same commentary from Dad and by then, by me.

Dad was always a driven man. Work and knowledge was his passion. He always seemed larger than life, to me. He was one of the most intelligent men I have ever known. He definitely studied more than any person I have ever met. I can remember him sitting at the desk in his bedroom and then later in the “little room” with his nose in some book or magazine. Life for him was a constant quest for knowledge and self improvement, especially in the art of medicine, property and the stock market. Dad often bragged, he read about twenty thousand pages a year. But even if he seemed larger than life he was mortal and Dad was by far not a perfect man. He could be controlling and even manipulative at times, but without faults he would not have been human. One of Dad’s favorite sayings was “there was only one perfect man and they crucified him.” God knows I really screwed up in my life and at times I really hurt him, but no matter what had happened he was always quick to forgive my transgressions, saying “I’m your father this is my job.” All he ever wanted for me was the best. Education to him was the key to a good life. He was a hard man to impress but I do know the day I was inducted into the Louisiana Bar he was really proud of me.

I was blessed that I had dad as a father in the later years of his life. His career was winding down and I got to spend time with him. The trips all over the world were a magical time for me. Dad would always study everywhere we went and was always happy to give the history of where we were going, where we where and where we had been. Dad never held me back on the trips and let me go my own way most of the time. I really believe it was just a joy to him that he could give me the world.

Dad loved to wear Hawaiian shirts and polyester pants in his later life. He also never drove a new car. He always used to say if he had a new car the patients would think he was ripping them off. But more than that I just don’t think he cared what other people thought about him, in his later years he wasn’t out to impress anyone. He used to say if he wanted to impress someone he’d pull the money out of his pocket and buy what he wanted with cash.

Dad wasn’t one of those fathers who went out and threw a ball with me. As I got older I realized it wasn’t because he didn’t want to it was because he had to work as a child and didn’t have time to learn to play sports. That was a luxury he gave to me. Hunting and camping are some of my fondest memories. Dad took Peter and I, when we were kids, on a camping trip on property he had in the mountains. Just us three guys facing the wilderness. I can remember I was so excited when he first brought home a pickup truck and a camper. The first time we all went out in it Dad somehow ripped the muffler off of it. I will never forget how loud it was the whole trip home. At the hunting camp one time we were traveling on a narrow road and I kept asking Dad if two cars could pass and he keep saying yes until we crashed headlong into another vehicle. The funniest part was the guy he ran into was stealing birds from the camp. Or the time Dad sent me over the dike to shoot some geese, which I shot two. Only to be informed by the game warden the limit was two and Dad didn’t have a Federal duck stamp.

Dad was also a man of hidden talents. Like the fact he could pick up a pool cue after years of not shooting a game and clear the table. Or when my Mom bought him a mandolin one year for Christmas and he picked it up after 40+ years and started playing it. He never played it again because it would ruin his hands for surgery. That was Dad. He always had priorities in life. Some I agreed with some I didn’t, but he always made sure his children wanted for nothing. He wasn’t a saint and he wasn’t a devil he was just a man, but probably one of the most exceptional men I will ever known, and my Father.

“Give me a problem and I’ll find you a solution.” Those who knew Finis E. Wiggins, Jr. MD would agree that that motto accurately described him. Finis was a man of great drive and a very original, independent thinker. For Finis, no challenge was impossible, and just about any desired result was within his grasp. Finis placed great trust in his intuition. Since that intuition generally led him in the right direction, who was he to doubt it.

He was the son of Finis E. Wiggins & Della Rosella White. His childhood found him in Eureka, California where he matured into the independent person he eventually became.

Finis grew up with two sisters Lois Thomson and Agnes Della Graefe. Finis could be seen as being stubborn by his siblings. It was important to him that he was perceived as “right” when it came to his part in those typical family spats. However, this quality did not over power his caring for his family. This ability to balance his family, with his need to be seen as right, helped him to develop into a young adult while enjoying many good times with his family.

Finis was loyal to his friends. He found that he was most in tune with people who had similar interests and thought about things much the way that he did. Finis was a person who challenged others to fend for themselves and to be original in their thinking and evaluation of the outside world. Later in life, he became close friends with Dr. Stephen Estes, Dr. Thomas Hellwig, Wendell and Bobbie Mosely, George Zachery, Robert and Ballard and Nick Karahalios.

Finis often neglected his own feelings in order to give to others. This was very true when it came to how he dealt with his children. He was able to hand on to each child a number of strong values. He taught them to appreciate their abilities, gave them a desire to persevere despite obstacles and set within them a drive to succeed .He also taught them that hard work and education was the solution for all problems. He had six children, daughters- Maylyn Miller, Charlyn Gebeau; sons Don, Curtis "Cisco", Richard and Ronald. They were always aware of how much Finis loved them and how proud of them he was even if they had to hear it from one of the other siblings.

During Finis's professional working years, he was at his best when working independently. It became the hallmark of his performance. Finis was generally able to refocus his drive and determination and readily work toward finding a way to get things done that was beneficial to himself and his co-workers. His primary occupation was as a Dr. Ob/Gyn. He was employed for 45 years .

Finis was called from his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the White Memorial Hospital to join the military in World War II. He joined the Army and was assigned to the urology service of the 47th General Hospital. Finis completed the Thirty First Officers' Course during this time. The service did end up being a very profitable time time for Finis but his absence did cause him to lose his residency slot at the White Memorial Hospital in which he was very disapointed, but this did not stop or slow him down.

For Finis, his outside interests and hobbies became another exercise in learning and mastering areas that interested him. He greatly enjoyed unraveling the "hows" and "whys" by reading. Finis was always pushing himself to learn more and to stretch his knowledge base even further. He firmly believed that the more things that he knew the more control he would have over things. He truly enjoyed reading and also enjoyed hanging out with the good old boys for a game of golf while the Country Club served as a play ground for his children.

Due to Finis's loyalty and passion for following things through to their conclusion, he found that he was a definite asset to many organizations. Once he was firmly behind a common goal, Finis's skills became an integral part of the planning process and the success of any project. Throughout his later years, Finis was an active member of the Arrowhead Country Club, American Medical Association, California Medical Association, Gynecologic Urology Society, NRA, and San Bernardino Medical Society. Finis's contributions were valued as being the “structure” person of each individual organization.

Finis placed his interest wholeheartedly behind any project he took on. The “engineer” part of his personality pushed him to find out as much information as he could, to understand the practicality in a given situation. This was something that influenced his involvement in work, pleasure and volunteer activities. Politically, Finis was a supporter of the Republican Party.

While he never set out to gain individual recognition, Finis did receive honors and awards. One of his most prestigious award included the Distinguished Humaniterian Award in 2009 at Loma Linda Medical School graduation where he was honored . This award was presented at the Conferring of degrees for the School of Medician. When Loma Linda University asked Finis about his unwavering commitment to and support for his alma mater he simply replied " Loma Linda University helped make me who I am professionally and throughout my career; I just wanted to give back".

Finis's skepticism was visible when he found it necessary to place too much trust in one person. This was never clearer than when it was time for him to schedule a vacation or period of time away from his regular schedule. Finis loved the research aspects of planning a trip, but the actual process of relaxing was far more difficult. Still, he did manage to enjoy some time away. Favorite vacations included fishing trips to Alaska and he enjoyed traveling the world via container ships so he could see the world and read his stack of accumulated books.

When Finis's retirement finally came in 1988, he was ready. He worked out many of the details in advance so that he could enjoy the time and not have to worry. He stayed right here in San Bernardino.

Finis E. Wiggins passed away on March 11, 2010 at St. Bernadine Medical Center in San Bernardino, California. He is survived by his wife Martha, five of his six children; daughters, Marlyn Miller and Charlyn Gebeau; his sons, Don, Curtis "Cisco", and Richard Wiggins; 14 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild; sister Lois Thomson and numerous close friends. Services will be held at Mt. View Memorial Chapel. Finis was laid to rest in Mt. View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California.

Finis E. Wiggins was always drawn to what was measurable, practical and factual. He was a very competent person who expected competence from others. He could be headstrong and certain about the way things were suppose to be. He was determined in every aspect of his life and certain that he was usually right about things. He trusted his intuition over all else, even if it opposed the popular belief, and he had faith in his inner vision and speculations. He wanted to be acknowledged by others as having made a contribution to whatever he was working on. His family and friends will miss his fierce determination, relentless innovations and analytic mind. He leaves with all those who knew him many wonderful memories.

The family would like to share an artical written about thier father in 1943.

Physician Profile by Roger A. Smith, M.D.

FINIS EWING WIGGINS, M.D.

“A plumber for all seasons”

How are the old La Posada Hotel in Redlands, the nearby orange trees and beautiful mountains, and the continuous warm sunshine directly related to our fellow physician under review? All of the above were responsible for Doctor Finis Wiggins, better known as Pete, choosing San Bernardino to spend his professional career, and, now that he is retired, in all likelihood, remain here the balance of his life. “I think San Bernardino is a great city, people want to go to the beach to retire, not me.” That, at the time, such scenery together with salubrious weather would make an idyllic physical environment, and have universal appeal, is not difficult to understand. But what prominent part did the late La Posada Hotel play in Pete’s settling down in San Bernardino? In the early thirties, through an accepted job offer from this hotel as a plumber, a trade Pete undertook in his high school years in Eureka, California, he was first introduced to the Inland Empire. Future circumstances, acting in tandem, would insure his destiny of locating permanently in San Bernardino and remaining a plumber. These we shall see.

In the town of Rockyford, Colorado, home of the famous Rockyford melons, Pete first saw the light of day in 1913. His father worked in the local sugarbeet factory and his mother, a Seventh-day Adventist with an eighth grade education, bettered her education by studying early mornings before the family arose and by reading Pet’s high school textbooks. The family moved to the state of Washington where he entered a class of two in the first grade. His teacher, responsible for the first eight grades in this small school house, failed both children.

Later the family moved to Eureka, California where Pete spent his childhood and teens. During high school, he was a member of a “go go” band in which he played the fiddle. It was in the band that he acquired the name of Pete. Each band member was called by a fictional name, such as Tony, etc. Clearly, through the years, he preferred this first name over Finis.

As far back as Pete can recall, his mother insisted he was to become a doctor. After his high school principal became aware of this and knowing the family’s poor financial status, he encouraged Pete to learn a trade in order to finance his advanced education. He arranged for him to work at the local newspaper which lasted only a week owing to Pet’s poor spelling. Undaunted, he quickly learned the plumbing trade, entered business for himself when a junior in high school, and later hired a couple of youngsters and purchased a Model T Ford.

Between his junior and senior years in high school, Pete answered a trade journal ad for a plumber. Following a two-day journey in his Model T Ford from Eureka, he arrived in Redlands eager to go to work. The contractor, expecting an adult for such a job, became furious when he discovered that Pete was only a teenager. After evaluating his workmanship, however, he was sold on his ability. At the same time, Pete was sold on Redlands and the surrounding countryside as a place to live.

Regretfully, Pete, though a proficient plumber, was at that time a poor businessman, and despite working full time for a year after completing high school, he ended up without sufficient funds even to enter college. Appeared the persistent and enterprising mother, who saw that he would begin college with money she had earned from selling her baked cakes, etc. These funds, being insufficient to cover his first year at Pacific Union College, were increased by the school arranging a job for him to process milk at a nearby dairy. Another needy colleague, Jerry Pettis, was the “udder end” milking the cows. Pete continued his plumbing trade working at the school on weekends and free afternoons and later, he was awarded the plumbing contract for the new administration building. At Pacific Union College, he met and married Edna Ehlers, a coed whose father was an internist in Loma Linda. Another happening that made Southern California more desirable.

In 1943, he completed medical school at Loma Linda University, then known as the college of Medical Evangelists. Throughout the summer breaks, his pipe wrench was busy bringing in money for the following school year. In medical school, Pete developed an unusual interest in the gynecology and obstetrics and, fortuitously, he was able to arrange his internships of six months each at Los Angeles County and White Memorial hospitals to be devoted largely to female medical and surgical conditions. His residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the White Memorial Hospital was interrupted early when he was called into the military in World War II.

In the course of Pete’s internship at the Los Angeles County Hospital, this plea of his female Mexican patients, “I come in here because I pee pee; you operate on me and I still pee pee,” augmented his interest in plumbing, but this time in humans, which would require, rather than wrenches and pipe fittings, needle and suture. The correction of this bladder incontinence would become an almost all-consuming passion throughout his medical career.

Upon joining the armed forces, he was assigned to the urology service of the 47th General Hospital, made up of the medical faculty and nurses from the College of Medical Evangelists. His time in the military was very profitable, mostly because of the learning experience from the medical faculty.

Returning to civilian life in 1946, Pete, with some anger and great disappointment, learned that his Ob/Gyn residency slot at the White Memorial Hospital had been taken by a future San Bernardino colleague, Berwyn Lawrence. With his head unbowed, Pete got a position working with Doctor Crooks in the anatomy department at the Loma Linda University where he was able to resume his study of the pelvic structures pertinent to the operation on the bladder. At this time, he met with the late Doctor Delbert Williams, a San Bernardino specialist in Ob/Gyn, who encouraged him to enter private practice and share with him his duties at the San Bernardino County Hospital. Doctor Williams emphasized to Pete that, operating with him at the County Hospital, he would get more experience than in a residency in Los Angeles. Hence in January, 1947, Pete opened an office with Joe Page, a dentist, in a house at 380 West Baseline. Then, there were only two doctors in San Bernardino limiting their practices mostly to Ob/Gyn: Doctors Williams and Landon, the latter English trained.

From the minute Pete began operating at the County Hospital, a deepening and prolonged love affair commenced between him and the County Hospital. During his long service there, some twenty years, the doctors volunteered their services gratis. He relished teaching the house staff, encouraging them to read journals and arranging for periodic journal clubs, sometimes at local restaurants. Pete paid a great and warm tribute to one of his colleagues, Ross Ballard, for his understanding and generosity in frequently caring for Pete’s private patients at times he was occupied at the County Hospital. As the late Bill Cover was a workhorse for the Department of Medicine at the County Hospital, Pete was the workhorse for Ob/Gyn Department.

In 1979, with Doctors Miller of Fullerton and Ostergaard of Irvine, Pete founded the first organization in the Americas committed to gynecologic urology, the Gynecologic Urology Society. At its 1980 meeting, Pete presented a paper, discussing his bladder repair, a modification of the Birch procedure, for correcting incontinence in females.

Throughout his medical career which ended in 1988, he attended, yearly, four to six weeks of post-graduate conferences, was a voracious reader, was always gladly available when his expertise was needed by his fellow physicians, and was cherished by his patients and highly respected by his colleagues. In addition to being a long time member of the San Bernardino County Medical Society, Pete was President of the medical staffs at St. Bernardine Medical Center (1949) and San Bernardino Community Hospital (1965), and City Health Officer (1948-1951).

Indeed, one should not overlook his rich paternity. Immediately, on entering his home for my interview, he proudly presented me with a picture of a large group taken at his recent surprise 80th birthday party. Included, in addition to his wife Dorothy and himself, was his entire family: six children (three were adopted), fourteen grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, a nephew whom he helped raise, his two sisters and one of their husbands. What a “flashbulb” event!

In the main, this quiet octogenarian, the epitome of aequanimitas, has successfully completed his mission as a physician and a skilled plumber. What a pity Pet’s first grade teacher cannot know what her first grade failure subsequently accomplished. Now he’s enjoying retirement. One will find him either on the golf course or satisfying his appetite for extra-medical reading ~ “I read ten to fifteen thousand pages yearly.” With a characteristic twinkle in his eyes and an impish smile, this delightful gentleman close our interview with a satisfying quip, “I came through medicine at the right time. I came in with sulfa and left with HMO’s.”