C. Niel Rigby

I wanted to write down some words about my uncle who passed away the 29th of October. This post may not be interesting to you who didn't know him, to those of you who did I hope that you will leave comments with fond memories of him.
I was not sad when I learned of his death. Uncle Niel led a wonderful and fulfilled life. He was Bishop, he served in the stake presidency and for the past 14 years he served as Stake Patriarch. This is a man who there is no doubt in my mind is in the highest degree of Heaven. When I learned that he was diagnosed with Leukemia and was given until Thanksgiving to live I had and still have comforting feelings telling me that he was preparing for a new mission. He wasn't going to be laid to rest he was being put to work, a great work. I am glad to have the gospel in my life and to know the plan of salvation.
Uncle Niel was great. He was a big guy full of love. He had retired as a shop teacher from a high school close to his house about 10 years ago. Niel loved to work with his hands, he loved tools and he never missed an opportunity to cut something out of wood for someone. When I was younger he carved a bunch of wooden pencil toppers for me to paint, unless you had seen these you probably wouldn't appreciate how adorable they were.
Uncle Niel lived in Fremont California. I loved staying at his house, I would wake up in the morning and he would make me oatmeal, I thank him for my love of oats. My Aunt Gerry and Uncle Niel would always get big tubs of Swanson's ice cream. We were always able to have some after dinner, since the ice cream was vanilla and no one wants just plain vanilla they would either make a very yummy chocolate fudge or we could choose from 3 flavors of powdered Nesquik, chocolate, strawberry or banana to flavor the ice cream. I really enjoyed the different flavors, that was a lot of fun for me.
Uncle Niel was not an ordinary kind of uncle, he was more like a grandpa, Aunt Gerry is also more like a spunky grandma who is quick to joke. They had a playhouse that Uncle Niel had made with pieces of scrap wood. This is a very nice playhouse, in fact I always though it was one of those expensive ones, it wasn't until I went to the funeral that I found out he had made it himself. It had cute pink trim and a garage for the battery powered jeep. This was the vehicle that I first learned to drive.
I have so many more great memories of Uncle Niel. I am glad I was able to go to his funeral, it was neat to see his warmth continue on even after he is gone. While I was at the funeral I saw many wounds healed, including mine, the eulogy focused on some of his writings that have now inspired John, who was never able to meet Niel in this life. I learned so many neat things about the spirit and family. His legacy lives strong.