Farewell to Jewel Pigg

January 18, 1928 - February 22, 2010

There is a Hall of Fame for probably every sport in

the world, for most forms of music, for Texas Rangers

and even for beer cans.

There is a Nobel Prize for chemistry, physics,

literature, peace, medicine and economics, and the

prestigious Fields Medal for math.

Hollywood and the entertainment industry revel in

recognitions, but the most coveted is the Lifetime

Achievement Award.

But there are no awards or public acclaim for those

whose lives are characterized by consistent Christian

goodness and decency. If there were, Jewel Pigg

certainly would have been an honoree. Her life was an

aggregate of thoughtful deeds, regardless of her own

life situation. Her ability to reach out to people was her

genius, her gift.

When I first came to this congregation in 1973, I

knew only my then fiance and his family. No one knew

me. And I felt very much out of place.

One Sunday a woman I barely knew came up to

me and asked if she could host a wedding shower for

us. On the appointed day, it seemed that the mammoth

room in her basement was filled with nearly everyone in

the congregation. The outpouring of gifts was

exceeded only by the outpouring of love, and that went

a long way in making me feel at home.

My experience was not unique. Jay Young, the

minister of the Rockville congregation and a longtime

missionary and evangelist, remembers his early days in

the Navy, when he was 17 and dreadfully homesick and

was welcomed into Bob & Jewel’s home in Norfolk.

And years later, as she was housebound due to

rheumatoid arthritis - she had been diagnosed at the age

of 41 - she fretted that she couldn’t “do” anything. So

she developed a personal telephone ministry, by which

she stayed connected to those who suffered, often

alone, with debilitating disease. She was the go-to

person for updates about those she would neither forget

nor neglect.

The truly amazing thing was that Jewel did not

surrender to the human tendancy to grow bitter or to

allow her pain to warp her spirit. If we could patent,

research or manipulate whatever genes or mindset or

early childhood conditioning led to her giving nature, her

patient spirit, we would have a much better world.

She was born January 18, 1922, on a farm in rural

Elbridge, TN, in the northwest corner of the state. She

was the ninth of eleven children of Ira and James

Thurmon. At an early age she developed a fastidious

attention to cleanliness,

a trait she carried

through life.

She also developed

a lifelong habit of faith,

worship and service to God and His church, and for that

her mother was a powerful influence. Jewel’s son-inlaw

Ken Link stated in his eulogy at her funeral service,

that, “Going to church, studying the Bible, singing hymns

and living out her faith in good times and bad marked

Ira Thurman’s life. Jewel was her mother’s child. She

was baptized at age 15 on a sand bar in the Mississippi

River and for the next 67 years church occupied a

prominent and special place in her life.”

She and Bob met in the 7th grade at Cloverdale

High School, which boasted 200 students distributed

from 1st through 12th grade. He reports that he

considered her the prettiest girl he had ever seen, and

by the end of those school days, they were engaged.

After school, Bob joined the Navy and Jewel enrolled at

Freed-Hardeman College. That Christmas, they drove

to Corinth, MS, and were married by a justice of the

peace Dec. 27, 1946. They were 18.

They embarked on a life of rare camaraderie, a

true partnership. Bob credits her as “...the rock and

sustainer of their family.” In addition to her husband,

she is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Barbara

and Ken Link; son and daughter-in-law Stephen and

Brenda Pigg; granddaughter Kristin (Link) Ullrich, her

husband Bill and their daughter Harper; granddaughter

Madison and her husband Kris; two grandsons, Graham

and Nicolas Pigg, and several siblings.

Bob and Jewel had a very brief honeymoon, as he

returned the next day to his ship in Boston. Jewel was

able to visit him in Boston and Philadelphia during the

following year. In 1948 they returned to Elbridge and

then moved to Millington, TN, where their first child

Barbara was born. In 1954, Bob’s Naval career led

them to Norfolk, VA, where they welcomed their

second child, Stephen. In 1965, they moved to Arlington,

VA, for two years, back to Norfolk for two years,

and back to this area for good in 1969 as Bob completed

and then retired from service with the Navy.

As he embarked on a successful business career,

they watched their family grow, they worked with the

church, and they enjoyed opportunities to travel to

places like Paris, Brussels, Geneva, Germany, London,

Scotland, Cancun and Montreal.