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City of Bartlesville

Posted: Nov 05, 2019 6:58 AMUpdated: Nov 05, 2019 5:55 PM

Spence Rigdon Passes Away, Funeral Details Released

 

Following a three-and-a-half year battle with colon cancer, Bartlesville High School’s Athletic and Activities Director Spence Rigdon has lost his fight with the disease.

Rigdon recently stopped his cancer treatments and opted for hospice care.

The Bartlesviille Public Schools issued this release:

“Spence Rigdon, the Director of Athletics and Activities for Bartlesville Public Schools, ended his nearly four-year battle with cancer on Monday, November 4, 2019. The Bartlesville Bruin Family mourns the loss of the long-time coach and Bruin alum, who was the district’s Director of Athletics and Activities. His funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 9, 2019, at the Fine Arts Center auditorium at Bartlesville High School.

 

Recently the Bartlesville Board of Education approved naming the district's baseball field Rigdon Field at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium to recognize Rigdon’s role in the effort to have the baseball field and stadium transferred from the city to the district in 2016 so that the district could invest in renovations and maintenance of the historic facility.

 

Rigdon served others through his coaching in baseball and other sports, teaching, church, athletics administration, and community involvement. He taught social studies in the Bartlesville Public Schools for 18 years including a long stint in the district’s alternative high school program. He served as a district varsity baseball coach for thirteen years. In 2015, he was the recipient of the annual Kurt Schmoldt Teacher Appreciation Award and soon after that earned a master’s degree. In June of 2018, he became the Director of Athletics and Activities.

 

A Bartlesville native, Rigdon was a 1991 graduate of Bartlesville High School. He attended Kansas City Community College and graduated from Pittsburg State University in Kansas, where he played baseball. Rigdon began his career as the head baseball coach in Marysville, Kansas in 1996 while also coaching junior-level football and basketball. He later returned to Bartlesville to coach junior high football and basketball and freshman baseball. In 2001, he began coaching varsity football and was named the varsity assistant coach in baseball in 2004 before his stint as head coach.

 

Rigdon’s widow, Christina, is a Family Support Coordinator for Title I schools in the district. A Go Fund Me account was created at https://www.gofundme.com/f/7u39w-bless-the-spence-rigdon-family to support Christina and their three children: Rilee (19), Bradee (16), and Cy (11).””

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