ForeverMissed
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His Life
March 1, 2015

James Radford Siggers, Sr., 81, joined our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Friday, February 27, 2015 at Bethany House, after battling Lymphoma and Bone Marrow Cancer for ten months.

He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Peggy Siggers, children Renee’ (Russell) Lee of Lake Harding, James Radford Jr., “Jamey” (Debbe) Siggers of Lanett, AL, David (Lisa) Siggers of Ridge Grove, AL, Grandchildren Ali Hartman(Cliff) Duck of Beulah, AL, James Radford III, “Jay”(Marissa) Siggers of Ridge Grove, AL, great grandchildren Presley Renee’ Duck, Beau Hartman Duck, James Radford “Sye” Siggers, IV, Ella DaNeal Siggers, as well as Ashley(Corey) & Caden Blair, Kristen(Josh) & HadleyHelleso, Andy Lee & Matt (Bernadette) Lee, a sister, Peggy Ann (Jessie) Harper of West Point, GA, and a brother, Jackie (Aiko) Siggers of Savannah, GA as well as a host of nieces, nephews and cousins. He is preceded in death by his brothers Everett Siggers and Norman Siggers.

Born in Beat Four, raised in West Point, GA, the oldest of five children of the late Theodore and Gladys Siggers, he joined the navy at age 17 during the Korean War and served until age 23. By age 18 he had traveled around the world three times over. After returning home from the navy, he married the love of his life, Peggy and they moved to Lanett, AL. Faith, Family, and Fellowship was always most important to him. He was a devout Christian and raised his family as such. He always believed in working hard and did just that until he was 80 years old.

His career path began at the Columbus Ledger Newspaper as a district supervisor in the early 1960s. He made such an impression on the administration, they offered him a management position in circulation; this would have required him to relocate his family from Lanett, AL to Columbus, GA which was not something he was interested in doing. He passed on that opportunity and what a great decision that turned out to be. Little did he or anyone else know, he made such a huge impression on Millard Grimes a few years prior, that it would bring an opportunity that came looking for him, literally. When Millard Grimes became publisher and editor of the Opelika Auburn News, he needed a circulation manager who could come up with ideas to get the newspapers in everyone’s hands, someone with connections in Chambers County and who was well rounded. That someone was Radford. The only problem was Mr. Grimes had lost touch with Radford over the past several years, until one day someone told Grimes, Radford was coaching little league baseball in West Point, GA. So by chance, Grimes went to West Point and found him coaching his sons’ little league baseball team. He offered Siggers the job of circulation manager of the Opelika Auburn News on the spot and told Siggers he could live wherever he wanted. That was the beginning of the next and best 8 years the OA News had thus far in its history. Under the direction of Siggers, its circulation grew from 8,500 to 22,000 in the Opelika-Auburn area, as well as had an increase of zero to 3000 in Chambers County. To quote Millard Grimes, “The success story of the OA News could not have been written without all of Radford Siggers’ hard work.” While working with the paper, he fell in love with photography and had a talent for capturing beautiful moments between family members around the area, as well as exciting shots from the sidelines of Jordan Hare Stadium during Auburn Football games. In 1977, he and his wife opened Radford’s photography, which became a staple business of downtown Lanett for many years. He took school pictures, wedding pictures, family portraits, etc. He was the town’s local photographer. Even though he thoroughly enjoyed this part of his career life, his favorite thing to do was cook. During the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, whether it was for a church, civic group or school fund-raiser, if a chicken-que was mentioned, usually so was Radford’s name. He was instrumental in making the Lanett Quarterback Club a huge success because of the money he raised with his Chicken-que sales. He was also a key player in having the Lanett High School Football Stadium built. After retiring from the photography business in 1995, he went to work for the Chambers County school system as a bus driver. He drove the bus for the mentally and physically challenged children for over 17 years before retiring in 2011. After many years of hosting chicken-ques for the church and smoking Boston butts on the side, he realized this was his next career calling, sohe opened a BBQ business,Papa’s Que and Stew on Hwy 50 in Lanett, at age 74.It has been thriving for the past 6 years, and will continue to thrive, as the family is now running the business.He was one in a billion, lived for his family, and appreciated everything he worked so hard for. He loved his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with all of his heart. He loved to travel and was as avid Auburn Fan.