Dionne Andersen Riggs

In Loving Memory of Dionne Andersen Riggs Aug 30, 1934 – June 8, 2024 – St. George, Utah Dionne Andersen Riggs got her wish and returned home to her Heavenly Parents on June 8, 2024. She was greeted by her seven brothers and sisters and her sweet mother and father who had been patiently waiting for her to join them. Dionne was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. The eighth and last child of Joseph and Zola Andersen. They were an incredibly close family, and she loved reminiscing of old times with her brothers and sisters. Dionne attended West High School and after high school she married Larry D Stones, with whom she had five wonderful children and was married for 18 years before they divorced. She then married Austen W. Riggs on October 29,1970. This marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through Austen, she gained five sweet stepchildren. Dionne worked at Sperry Rand, Utah National Guard and Associated Foods Stores as a buyer before marrying Austen. Together, she and Austen started their own manufacturers rep business in Salt Lake City, called Mountain Region Associates. Together they serviced and maintained business throughout the Intermountain and Western States for 40 years. Their business moved them to Parker, Colorado in 1989, where Dionne studied and graduated from the Sheffield School of Design. Also known as The New York Institute of Art & Design. They then returned to Utah, where they retired and devoted time designing and building the home of their dreams. Dionne used her new skills to design their beautiful new home in St. George, Utah. It had a large kitchen where everyone could gather and a big window that overlooked Green Springs Golf Course. The views of the beautiful eastern skyline, with those magnificent reddish-orange mountains, so familiar to the Washington/St. George area and a favorite view for all their visiting family over the years. Dionne was featured in St. George magazine for the design and decorating of their new home in Washington. Her husband and family were very proud of her and her accomplishments. In mom’s heart, this home was especially built as a place of refuge for their children and grandchildren to come and stay and enjoy and share their love with one another. We all made so many wonderful heartfelt memories together over the past thirty years, that we will all cherish forever. Her children meant the world to her, and loved having them gather in their home that was built with so much love. It was always filled with laughter and love, and Dionne was often the life of the party. If you were to ask mom what her greatest accomplishment was, she would tell you that it was raising her children and being a grandmother and great grandmother to us and our children, teaching us about treating others with kindness and love. She found so much joy in spending time with her family and visiting with them on the phone. She was always concerned about what was going on in their lives, always praying for them to pull through any difficult situation or complication they were going through, and always so happy when they were all doing well. She and Austen, her husband of 54 years, had a unique and beautiful love for each other that we were all so desirous of finding for ourselves. They were like a symphony together and everyone enjoyed being around them. They were a perfect example of unconditional love and respect for each other, and just plain fun to be around! They supported each other in everything they did. This was our biggest blessing of their marriage. Mom always had to be busy. She picked up the hobby of needlepoint and would do this while traveling with Austen, mostly to visit her kids in various states. She did beautiful work and framed her pieces when they were completed. These framed needlework pictures are a treasure to us now and will be for years, many with handwritten notes to the recipient on the back of them. Dionne also became very involved in doing her family history and made huge binders for each of her children. These binders were filled with their own childhood pictures and memories, in addition to their genealogies and histories of their ancestors. This was just one more cherished project she saw through to the end. Diagnosed with Macular Degeneration in her fifties, she received the bad news that it had moved to the “wet” stage in 1997 while living in this home, and years later a failed detached retina surgery in her good eye would leave her with only about 5% of her eyesight. She never complained. You could often find Austen tweezing her eyebrows as she laid her head across his lap on the couch under the light of a lamp. He also applied her makeup whenever she wore it, until Traci, her youngest moved to Washington and took over. In her last years, she had shrunk at least 3-4 inches in height because of her double S scoliosis, which caused her such great pain for the last decade of her life. By then she had truly earned the nickname her brothers and sisters had given her of “shorty”. The truth is, she never slowed down enough to focus on her pain, she stayed busy throughout her life, working on this project or that project. She always had something in mind that she wanted you to help her with when you showed up at her door. Always busy with something. We think that when our mom finally left this existence, she was just totally tuckered out! Our hearts ache to see her, hug her, and be with her once again, and we know that we will because of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. A note to our brother Graig – Enjoy this one-on-one with mom while you can brother. We love you and miss you both! Dionne was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and knew and believed that families are eternal. We are so grateful for the knowledge that we will someday get to be with our beautiful wife, mother and grandmother once again. Dionne was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Zola Andersen of Woods Cross, Utah, and her much loved brothers and sisters, Jack Andersen, Ila McQuistion, Madge George, Bob Andersen, Lois Warr, Bill Andersen and Boni Allgood, her son, Larry Graig Stones and her stepson Dale Riggs. She is survived by Austen W. Riggs, her husband of 54 years, and her children, Christine (Howard) Norton, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, Todd Stones (Coy) of Richmond Virginia, Mitchell Stones (Lisa) of Chandler, Arizona, Traci Archuleta (Colin) of Washington, Utah and daughter-in-law, Mary Stones of Grand Junction, Colorado. She is also survived by her stepchildren, Dean Riggs (Rachelle), Randy Riggs (Sherri), Ricky Riggs and Lanni Ratliff, and by her 22 grandchildren, and 31 great grandchildren. A memorial will be held for Dionne in Washington, Utah at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Buena Vista Stake Center Chapel, 860 Fairway Drive, Washington, Utah on Friday, April 4, 2025, at 11:00 AM. Our family would like to give a special thanks to Dixie Hospice and all the wonderful nurses that took such special care of her during her last days on this earth. Dionne was cremated last year following her passing on June 8, 2024.

Dionne Andersen Riggs

August 30, 1934 - June 8, 2024