Dr. John Spencer Diggs
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John Spencer Diggs, MD, age 84, died on September 10, 2020 on his sailboat at Hazzard Marina, Georgetown, South Carolina. He was born on January 8, 1936, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Dr. Lemuel Whitley Diggs and Beatrice Moshier Diggs.
He was a graduate of Germantown High School in 1954 and of Dartmouth College in 1958 before entering the US Navy for three years. He attained the rank of LTJG and served on the carrier USS Wasp. He attended medical school at the University of Tennessee in Memphis and completed a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. After graduation, he practiced medicine in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM, Los Angeles, CA, Waterville, ME, Miami, FL, Memphis, TN, and Bozeman and Butte, MT.
John was a 4-H member in his youth and played basketball. He excelled in rope jumping and pole vaulting. In 1954 he was the Tennessee state high school pole vaulting champion. He enjoyed horseback riding, swimming, and downhill skiing, but sailing was his most enduring activity. Sailing took him down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, to the Inland Passage of British Columbia in the Pacific NW, to the Channel Islands off the coast of California, along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, and across to the Bahamas
John enjoyed dancing and learned to play the guitar and banjo. He played the violin the most and performed in several community orchestras.
He is survived by his brother, Walter Diggs of Harwich, MA, and two sisters, Alice Sullivan of Mount Pleasant, SC, and Margaret Simons (Robert) of Honesdale, PA, his two daughters Maude Andrade (German) of Albuquerque, NM, and Dorothy Diggs of Portland, ME, their mother Josephine Diggs, a grandson, Tayne Andrade, and eight nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his ex-wives Charlene Whitmore and Anne Looney Cook.
Arrangements are being made by The Georgetown Chapel of Mayer Funeral Home in Georgetown, SC. A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family requests that memorials be made to the local food bank or charity of one's choice.