Belva Gene (Wiggins) Whitfield

Belva Gene Wiggins Whitfield passed away Wednesday, June 26, 2019 in Albuquerque.  Belva was born at home near Lovington, NM in 1929 and grew up there on the farm-ranch. She graduated from Lovington High School in 1947. Belva and Willis met while they were both attending Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX. Belva graduated in 1951, and Willis graduated in 1952.

Willis Whitfield and Belva Wiggins were married on September 3, 1949 at the First Baptist Church in Lovington, NM. After graduating from H-SU, they moved to Indian Head, MD where Willis was employed as a Physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Lab, and Belva was employed by the National Rifle Assoc. in Washington DC.

In 1954 they moved to Albuquerque where Sandia National Labs employed Willis as a Nuclear Physicist. Willis worked for the Labs for 30 years. Belva graduated from UNM in 1971 with a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She worked for APS for 20 years as a Speech-Language Pathologist and a Special Education Administrator.

Belva and Willis have two sons, Joe Ray Whitfield who lives in Portland, OR, and James Donald Whitfield who lives in Albuquerque, NM. Willis and Belva lived in Albuquerque for 55 years before Willis passed away. They had been married 63 years.

Memorial Services will be held Tuesday, July 23, 2019, 10:00 a.m., at Hoffmantown Church, 8888 Harper Rd. NE, followed by a reception. Interment will take place at 1:30 p.m. at Santa Fe National Cemetery.