WALLA WALLA – Former Milton-Freewater resident Venetta Mary Fraser Riggs, 87, died Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, at the Washington Odd Fellows Home in Walla Walla. A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at Christ The King Lutheran Church in Milton-Freewater.

Mrs. Riggs was born Sept. 19, 1921, in Roseburg to Thomas Clarence Fraser and Agnes Bogard Fraser. She lived in Sutherlin, where she attended school. After graduation she landed her first job at a veterinary clinic. It was there she met Harold Riggs, and they married in 1941. They moved to Prineville in 1955, and in the summer of 1958, the family moved to Milton-Freewater. She worked at Rogers Cannery, Warner Sash & Door, Hiway and Freewater Drugs, and Price’s IGA for many years. Her passion for animals was fulfilled while working at Associated Veterinary Clinic.

Survivors include daughter Kathy Harvey of Walla Walla; sons Wayne Riggs of Walla Walla and Larry Riggs of Pendleton; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and special friends Roxann Skold and Chad Kilburg, both of Milton-Freewater, and Sharra Kilburg Fink of Vancouver, Wash.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, Harold Riggs, in 1985; and her parents.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Integrity Rebecca Lodge of M-F, Walla Walla Community Hospice or the Alzheimer’s Association through Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home, 902 S. Main St., Milton-Freewater, OR 97862.