Thomas E. Riggs, 56, passed away on December 24, 2009. He was preceded in death by his mother. He is survived by his wife, Bonnie Chauncey-Riggs, his mother-in-law, his father and step-mother, two daughters, two grandchildren and four siblings.  After graduating from the Rochester School for the Deaf in NY, Tom moved out West where he received a degree in Environmental Studies at the Metropolitan State College in Denver. His fascination with language led way to his Masters in Linguistics from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Tom was most recently the director of the American Sign Language/Interpreter Preparation Program at Santa Fe Community College. He held the same position at Phoenix College and prior to that was ASL faculty at ASU, Colorado University and Front Range Community College. Tom also held a CDI, Certified Deaf Interpreter, from RID, Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and Professional Certification from ASLTA, American Sign Language Teachers Association. Tom has received many awards and recognitions from various teaching/ interpreting/ Deaf organizations and was most recently awarded the Deaf Leadership Award for NM from Hamilton Relay.