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2017 SESSION


HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 278
Commending Lynn Wiggins.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 13, 2017

 

WHEREAS, Lynn Wiggins, a generous philanthropist and an admired community advocate who offered her leadership to several charitable organizations over the course of 45 years, was named First Citizen of Portsmouth in 2015; and

WHEREAS, the First Citizen of Portsmouth award is presented by the Portsmouth Service League to one resident who embodies the spirit of citizenship through community service; nominees are evaluated by a committee of former First Citizens; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Wiggins, a proud native of the Eastern Shore, graduated from the University of Richmond and moved with her husband, Ben, to Portsmouth in 1964; she taught history at Harry Hunt Junior High School and worked in her husband’s growing dental practice before answering the call to serve members of the community in need; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Wiggins joined the Portsmouth Service League, a volunteer organization of women who strive for the betterment of the community, and ably led the organization as president in 1973; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Wiggins also served as a member of the Portsmouth Red Cross Board of Directors and became the first woman to serve as chair of the administrative board of Monumental United Methodist Church; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Wiggins was the first woman to serve as president of the Portsmouth YMCA, where she used her organizational skills and open-minded leadership to steward the organization through a move to a new facility in Churchland, as well as oversee many successful fundraisers; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, Lynn Wiggins joined the Portsmouth Community Foundation, now known as the Southeastern Virginia Community Foundation, which works with other charitable organizations to strengthen the region; she served as president from 2005 to 2007 and was a member of the board until 2009; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Wiggins was officially named First Citizen of Portsmouth at a banquet held in her honor at the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel on April 28, 2016, with proceeds of the banquet benefiting the Southeastern Virginia Community Foundation and the Portsmouth Service League’s efforts to restore the Woman’s Club of Portsmouth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Lynn Wiggins hereby be commended for being named the 2015 First Citizen of Portsmouth for her legacy of leadership and service to the community; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Lynn Wiggins as an expression of the House of Delegates’ admiration for her mission to enhance the lives of all of her fellow Portsmouth residents.