Randall Charles "Randy" Riggs

Randy (Randall) (Hillegas) Riggs, 67, Cumberland, MD, passed away surrounded by family at home after a 3 year battle with a glioblastoma. He was born June 10, 1958 in Barberton, OH to Coren Ruth Kratzer Riggs and Lester Merlin Riggs. He lived in Barberton until his father passed away then he moved to Cumberland when his Mom married his step father, Dale Hillegas.

Randy graduated from Fort Hill High School and was a proud member of the 1975 Maryland Class A State Champion Football Team and an All-City Guard. He then went to Frostburg State where he got his degrees in Business Administration with a concentration of Finance and Economics. After college he started R. Hillegas Construction which later became Hillegas Construction, Inc. Randy was a quality builder of custom homes, remodeled, renovated and built commercial buildings in our area. He took so much pride in his work. He and Kathy also owned Cumberland Cycles. He loved all his employees and thought of them as family. He valued his clients and became good friends with many of them.

Randy married the love of his life Kathy Nixon (Hillegas) Riggs August 26, 1989. They had their wedding at their home on their front porch and the reception in the back yard. It wasn't fancy but it was perfect. Randy loved his home more than any other place, as does Kathy. They went to Santee Cooper, SC cat fishing on their honeymoon. Then they continued to go there for many years with friends and catching giant cat fish. Together they rescued and loved many furry children, dogs and cats. They were his babies.

Randy loved to hunt from an early age, especially with his family in Calhoun County, WV. He also loved hunting in Nebraska and Colorado with his friends he considered family. He looked forward to hunting season every year. He also enjoyed shooting his bow with Kathy and his friends.

Randy loved shooting pool and played on several pool teams in the area. He was an excellent pool shot.

Randy started racing dirt bikes in 1998. He raced 30-40 races a year and trained for it year round. He treated racing like his job. He worked and trained to be the best he could be. This training lead him to road, mountain and trail biking. He loved taking off from his house with his friends and riding for miles up and down the mountains. He also loved to bike Dan's Mountain or the trails at Rocky Gap. For 10 years he taught the 6am spin class at the Y twice a week for training as well. He was #201 in the GNCC which was the #1 rider in his class and the morning races. He had to move to the morning races since the AMA would not let a 50 year old race a 3 hour race. He was #1 in many series in his class including the National Hare Scrambles, National Endures, District 5, District 7 and many other series. His best result was May 5, 2013 in a GNCC race in Kentucky. It was raining, they shortened the race, combined the morning and afternoon race. Randy came in 20th overall, beating many pros and top riders at the age of 55. At the GNCC banquet that year the riders voted Randy and awarded him the 2013 Bad Ass Award because of his endurance and speed in a very tough race. Then 2 weeks later on May 19, 2013 Randy had an accident in the GNCC in Indiana leaving him a quadriplegic at level C3 & C4 with severe nerve damage. Through racing Randy met so many new friends who were always there for him. He loved them and considered them family as well.

Once Randy was able to get home after 8 long months, 5 in Indiana and 3 in NJ, he started to recover and actively work again. He worked in the office doing estimates, billing, drawing plans and at the jobs as well. Randy worked 7 days a week anywhere from 6 - 12 hours a day. He never stopped, he loved to work.

Randy was always a strong lifter. He loved to workout. After college he was a Maryland State Lifter. He also lifted throughout the years especially for race training. In the last 5 years he went to Life Fitness and worked with a trainer 2 times a week. We had special gloves that would hook on to the equipment and he could lift, some on his own and some with his trainer, Justin. This made so happy. We also had a RT300 bike at home he could ride. He could push on his own but If he could not the motor would take over and he would still get a workout. Kathy stretched him every morning as well. Randy liked to stay active.

Randy was very talented and hard working. No matter what he did he excelled and succeeded . He was a human calculator. He could do any math in his head faster than you could punch it in a calculator. He was not like anyone else. He liked to have fun; he was ornery and always wanted everyone to be happy. He was the best story teller and no matter what his adventure, and he had many, you felt like you were there with him. He loved his family and friends and told them that often. He was the best husband and furry baby daddy.

Randy is survived by his wife of 36 years, Kathy, his furry family with includes dogs – Sadie, Blaze, Star, Huck and Harmony, cats – Cinder, Pumpkin, Sabrina and Simba, his Step-father Dale Hillegas, sister Sherri Schaidt, nephew Hunter Schaidt, sister-in-law Barbie Nixon, niece Caleigh Shade and niece Ella Shade and mother-in-law Dottie Nixon.

Randy was able to go to the Fort Hill/ Dunbar pregame on September 12 for 50th Anniversary of the 1975 State Champion game. He saw many of his teammates and friends and was very happy to have gone. He was overwhelmed by the kindness of his friends. He also saw many of his close family and friends the last several weeks that stopped by to see him at home. This meant everything to him.

Thank you to all the doctors, nurses and medical staff the last 12 years. There are too many to list but they all mean so much and helped during a difficult time. Thank you to our employees for working with Randy as the situation changed. You hung in there and gave him a purpose. Thank you to all our family, friends and employees who made trips to Indiana, New Jersey and here at home to visit Randy. He loved having visitors and seeing the people he loved.

There will be a graveside service, officiated by Pastor Kathy Emerick, at Hillcrest, Friday, September 26 at 10am for family and close friends. Pall bearers will be Bill Browning, Kenny Caton, Dave Creegan, Jr. Couter, Mike Matthews and Dave Redman. Honorary pall bearers will be AW Demott, Randy Kilander, Dave Shade, Ray Tighe and Nate Youngblood.

If you would like to make a donation in Randy's memory please send it to Allegany County Animal Shelter Foundation; Whiskers, Inc.; Safe Shelter Inc., Meow Mission Coalition or Bedford County Humane Society.