Richard R. Jiggetts, who was instrumental in rebuilding of First Baptist Church Centralia, dies at 98
3/6/2020, 6 a.m.
When arson destroyed the historic but vacant former sanctuary of First Baptist Church Centralia in 1996, everyone bemoaned the fiery loss of an irreplaceable church building.
Restoration seemed impossible because plans for the 90-year-old structure at 4412 Centralia Road had long since disappeared from First Baptist and Chesterfield County records. The church, itself, had moved more than 30 years earlier to its current location on Kingsland Road.
Enter Richard Roosevelt Jiggetts, a congregation member.
A skilled machinist by trade, Mr. Jiggetts enjoyed two crucial pastimes — carpentry and drafting architectural plans.
Tapped by the pastor, Dr. Wilson E. B. Shannon, who had vowed to rebuild, Mr. Jiggetts from memory drew plans to the original specifications that the engineering firm of Beamon and Associates and the contractor used.
The result after just a year: A virtually identical building that now is used for special events. An impressed Virginia Department of Historic Resources later approved the structure as a historic landmark.
Mr. Jiggetts and his skills are being remembered following his death on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. He was 98.
Family and friends celebrated the life of the county native on Friday, Feb. 28, at the church he had belonged to most of his life and where he served as a deacon.
Survivors include his daughters, Dr. Jane J. Baskerville and Dr. Jacqueline J. Bates; five grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
