On January 11

          On January 11, 2008, one of Lake Havasu City’s most respected Realtors, Wanda Rigdon, attended her retirement party. It was hosted by Coldwell Banker, at the former offices of McCulloch Realty, in Lake Havasu City’s Safeway Plaza. Rigdon had worked at that location as an agent and trainer since 1993, first for McCulloch Realty and then with Coldwell Banker. She held several real estate designations, such as ABR, CRS & GRI.
           Rigdon was active in the local, state and national REALTOR® associations, beginning in 1987. Over the years she went through many of the chairs within the Lake Havasu Association of REALTORS® (LHAR), and eventually served as its president in 1993. During that same period she worked on various committees within the Arizona Association of REALTORS® , including chairing a number of grievance, professional standards and mediation hearings, and she served four years as a National Director.
           Wanda was presented with a number of awards during her years as a Realtor, including: Designated REALTOR® of the year in 1990 and REALTOR® of the Year in 1997 for LHAR. In 1999 she was presented the prestigious VISION AWARD by the Arizona Association of REALTORS®.
          A native Arizonan, Wanda was born on Oct 22, 1932 in Marinette, Arizona (which is now the location of Sun City West). She was the only child of “Dude” Damron and Ethel Mae Deal Damron. Her father was a farmer and Wanda grew up on a farm near Litchfield Park. Her father’s real name was Laska Sewel Damron, which he never used.
          Wanda married her childhood sweetheart, Richard Kingsbury, and together they had three children: Rick Dale, Steven Duane and Tammy Lynn. Late in 1964 they were living in Avondale and working for Boswell Company when they learned that the Boswell Farm was being sold to Del Webb for the development of a new city along the Colorado River. Since their jobs were moving to California, and they didn’t want to make that move, they opted for Lake Havasu City. It was time for a new start.
          When the Kingsburys announced to their children that they would be moving to a new city, 13-year-old Rick protested loudly but would later write in his book, Living at the End of Old 95, “My parents dragged me kicking and screaming to a new life in the middle of nowhere”. He wasn’t the only unhappy family member, his mother claimed to have cried for the first three months.
          Lake Havasu City was about a year old when the Kingsbury family moved to the fledgling town, and about a year before Robert McCulloch announced the purchase of the London Bridge. The young family brought a trailer to live in, until a house could be built.
           Some early pioneers claim to have lived in tents during those early days. Wanda remembers that most residents were living in trailers when she arrived in Lake Havasu City, and the trailer park was full. The Kingsbury family trailer was placed on the lot that would eventually be the site for their house. For electricity they purchased a small compressor. Wanda recalls that she could either iron or run the refrigerator – both couldn’t be done at the same time. She also remembers that only about ten houses had been built by that time.
          The small community, where inevitably everyone was a newcomer, fostered close ties and camaraderie. Not so different from many frontier towns, whose early pioneers banned together for emotional and social support. The laundromat was one gathering spot to meet with neighbors. Since residents generally did not have washers and dryers, this domestic task became a social event.
          Once a week McCulloch’s people would fly in a movie and everyone would gather to see it - including children and dogs.   For Wanda, that memory evokes her own unique “Norman Rockwell moment”. On Saturday nights there was a well attended buffet dinner, followed by dancing at the Nautical Inn.
          The Kingsbury family made good use of the lake. During their first summer they spent almost every evening waterskiing. Families rarely, if ever, locked their doors and hitch hiking was the mode of transportation for the young people. Locals encountered scorpions and skunks and a couple of rattlesnake bites.
          The first year or so Wanda worked at the Nautical Inn Gift Shop. At that time Claypool owned the store, which was the community’s only market. The Kingsburys had been in town about three months when Claypool opened the first grocery store at the corner of McCulloch and Smoketree.
          Early on, as McCulloch’s Holly Development actively promoted its new town, several of the executives (Robert McCulloch, CV Wood and Fred Shumaker) got together for lunch at the Nautical Inn and discussed ideas for a new public relation’s stunt. They decided to feature an article in the local paper about the 1,000th Lake Havasu City resident. Someone mentioned the Kingsburys and so they were chosen for this honor.(Wanda said there were nowhere near 1000 people – and suspected they counted the dogs, and the donkeys, which were numerous in those days.) But the Kingsburys were handy and photogenic and so the story went forward.
          After those first few months, the family settled in and began to appreciate what Lake Havasu had to offer. Wanda enjoyed golfing, but since there was no golf course at that time, she and Mrs. Shumaker often hit balls at the sod farm. The sod farm, located on the peninsula (that would become the Island) was also the location of the early horse stables used by Havasu equestrians. The initial building of the sod farm had to do with enabling the city to create an Irrigation District and pave the way to future incorporation.
          Wanda left Lake Havasu City in 1971, moving for a time to Phoenix and later to Colorado. During this period she divorced her first husband, Richard (Dick) Kingsbury and earned her first real estate license. In 1973 she remarried Maurice Rigdon , another Lake Havasu City pioneer, known to his friends as “Moose”.

For a time Wanda’s real estate practice included promoting another McCulloch project; this one located in Spring Creek, Nevada. Her real estate career continued after moving to Colorado. In 1987 she and “Moose” returned to Lake Havasu City. Her younger son, Steve, was a contractor and the two went into business together
          Eventually Rigdon was lured to McCulloch Realty by John Stacey, then Designated Broker for McCulloch Realty, (McCulloch Realty was not affiliated with Robert McCulloch’s Properties (MCO) but was founded by Gary Baumkirchner, who had been a salesman for McCulloch’s Holly Development).
          In 2001 Wanda’s oldest son, Rick Kingsbury, published his book, “Livin’ at the End of Old 95,”telling the colorful story of Havasu’s early pioneer days. The book can be purchased at the Lake Havasu Museum Gift Shop, Hastings Book Store or ordered online through Amazon. For more about the Kingsbury family’s early Havasu Pioneer days visit the museum and purchase a copy of Kingsbury’s book.

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Havasu Pioneer - Wanda Rigdon