Rosalyn Terry Wiggins (Rose) passed away peacefully on May 16, 2026 at the age of 89.
She was born in Aulander, NC, on January 4, 1937 to Richard Romulus and Emma Minton Terry. The large family relocated to Portsmouth, VA and lived for many years in the Shea Terrace neighborhood in the Scott’s Creek area. Rose was the 13th of 15 children, and she attended Woodrow Wilson High School. In her teenage years, she met the love of her life Donald Fowler Wiggins, whom she happily married in 1955 for over 70 happy years until his passing on March 20, 2026.
Within 4 years, Rose and Donald had their three children in Portsmouth, which kept Rose busy as a young mother. Almost all of their extended families lived on the Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach side of the Hampton Roads region, and after living in Virginia Beach for a few years, in 1964 Donald and Rose made the “big leap” to cross the James River to live on the Peninsula, primarily living in Newport News. Despite the 25-mile drive, frequent attendance at family events on both sides of the water continued for many years.
In the summer of 1966, the family (including their cat Cinderella) drove several days across the country to live in Campbell, CA, in what is now the Silicon Valley. Although California was just too far from the family to make it their permanent home, Rose and Donald met several lifelong friends there and traveled to the West Coast for many visits. They then returned to Newport News in the summer of1967, where Rose began a successful sales career — she could sell sand at the beach — that started small with Tupperware and Avon, and ended with S&K Sales where she supplied military commissaries at various Virginia bases for many years. She also lived in Colonial Heights, VA and Springfield, VA before retiring.
With Rose’s brother Bobby as the general contractor, they built a beautiful home for retirement in Williamsburg, VA in 1997 large enough for all the family and friends to visit. The home saw many years of wonderful hospitality, including holidays, a house concert, Gourmet Group dinners, their granddaughter’s college graduation, card games and milestone birthday parties. In 2005, they took the whole family on a memorable 50th anniversary Caribbean cruise. Rose and Donald loved to travel and were no strangers to the cruising community, having been on 66 cruises all over the world, with their last cruise in 2025.
Rose received the nickname “Suitcase Rose” in her youth for her love of travel. She thoroughly enjoyed dancing from her teen years until her 80’s. She loved games, particularly cards, was surprisingly competitive and would do a victory dance in her seat when she won. A true extrovert, she loved people and made friends wherever she went (a cruise ship, the gym, the grocery store, etc.). She was blessed with a cheerful disposition, a ready smile and a twinkle in her eye, with a sassiness that made it impossible not to love her. Her home was known for hospitality, and there was never a shortage of a fun time or a delicious meal when she was involved. A generous spirit and a lover of life, one of her mottos was “you can’t take it with you!”
She is survived by her children Rex Wiggins of Cary, NC, Kent Wiggins (Rita) of Arlington, VA, and Sherry Wiggins Sherman (Rick) of Orange, VA, a younger sister Betty Jean Driver of Virginia Beach, VA, grandchildren Taylor Sherman of Rockville, MD, Amy Rose Sherman St. John (Jeremy) of Simpsonville, SC, Melanie Rose Wiggins of New York, NY, great-grandchildren Ian, Molly and Gavin St. John, and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of her long full life will take place at 1:00 pm on July 18, 2026, at Bucktrout Funeral Home, 4124 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg, VA.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating food, clothing or money to FISH Williamsburg (312 Second St, 757-220-9379) in memory of Rose.
