Penelope Parkman Biggs, of St. Louis, a brilliant but shy and modest scholar, teacher, friend and a wise and beloved mother and friend died quietly, with gentle hospice, after a long illness on November 3, 2022.
She was born in Boston and grew up there, combined with 4 separate years in Europe, when her family accompanied her father on major military and government assignments after WWII. She entered Radcliffe, then part of Harvard, graduating summa cum laude, studying classics, with a remarkable published achievement as an undergraduate.
Upon graduation she married a classmate, John H. Biggs (m. 1959), and she moved to St. Louis, to raise a family and enter Washington University, where she earned a Master's degree in Classics and a PhD in Comparative Literature.
After graduation she joined the faculty of Lindenwood College where she taught literature, published some of her research, and became tenured. After 8 years she left Lindenwood and accepted a senior position at Mary Institute, teaching advanced Latin courses.
She loved living in St. Louis in the Central West End during the great days of Gaslight Square, where she also was one of the founders of the New City School, from which her two children and all 4 grandchildren graduated. Our many new friends there remained so when we later moved to New York City but returned often and then permanently to St. Louis in 2019.
She also enjoyed her 30 year retirement in NYC, missing few theater, opera and ballet performances and courses at the Met Museum, and reuniting with Harvard classmates and new friends.
While in NYC she remained active in St. Louis, returning for her husband's St. Louis activities and seeing her 4 grandchildren grow up, while her son was a dean at Washington University, and her daughter-in-law taught at St. Louis University.
She and her husband also created and funded an annual "residency" program for outstanding international classics professors to spend a week at the University, giving lectures and meeting with faculty and students. 35 of them were selected; Mrs. Biggs attended their lectures and enjoyed knowing them. Several came who were stars from Harvard's faculty who had been close to her.
She is survived by her husband of 63 years, her son Henry and 4 grandsons—Jack, Alex, Charles and Thomas. A daughter Andrea died in 1980.
She was born in Boston and grew up there, combined with 4 separate years in Europe, when her family accompanied her father on major military and government assignments after WWII. She entered Radcliffe, then part of Harvard, graduating summa cum laude, studying classics, with a remarkable published achievement as an undergraduate.
Upon graduation she married a classmate, John H. Biggs (m. 1959), and she moved to St. Louis, to raise a family and enter Washington University, where she earned a Master's degree in Classics and a PhD in Comparative Literature.
After graduation she joined the faculty of Lindenwood College where she taught literature, published some of her research, and became tenured. After 8 years she left Lindenwood and accepted a senior position at Mary Institute, teaching advanced Latin courses.
She loved living in St. Louis in the Central West End during the great days of Gaslight Square, where she also was one of the founders of the New City School, from which her two children and all 4 grandchildren graduated. Our many new friends there remained so when we later moved to New York City but returned often and then permanently to St. Louis in 2019.
She also enjoyed her 30 year retirement in NYC, missing few theater, opera and ballet performances and courses at the Met Museum, and reuniting with Harvard classmates and new friends.
While in NYC she remained active in St. Louis, returning for her husband's St. Louis activities and seeing her 4 grandchildren grow up, while her son was a dean at Washington University, and her daughter-in-law taught at St. Louis University.
She and her husband also created and funded an annual "residency" program for outstanding international classics professors to spend a week at the University, giving lectures and meeting with faculty and students. 35 of them were selected; Mrs. Biggs attended their lectures and enjoyed knowing them. Several came who were stars from Harvard's faculty who had been close to her.
She is survived by her husband of 63 years, her son Henry and 4 grandsons—Jack, Alex, Charles and Thomas. A daughter Andrea died in 1980.
Penelope Parkman Biggs, of St. Louis, a brilliant but shy and modest scholar, teacher, friend and a wise and beloved mother and friend died quietly, with gentle hospice, after a long illness on November 3, 2022.
She was born in Boston and grew up there, combined with 4 separate years in Europe, when her family accompanied her father on major military and government assignments after WWII. She entered Radcliffe, then part of Harvard, graduating summa cum laude, studying classics, with a remarkable published achievement as an undergraduate.
Upon graduation she married a classmate, John H. Biggs (m. 1959), and she moved to St. Louis, to raise a family and enter Washington University, where she earned a Master's degree in Classics and a PhD in Comparative Literature.
After graduation she joined the faculty of Lindenwood College where she taught literature, published some of her research, and became tenured. After 8 years she left Lindenwood and accepted a senior position at Mary Institute, teaching advanced Latin courses.
She loved living in St. Louis in the Central West End during the great days of Gaslight Square, where she also was one of the founders of the New City School, from which her two children and all 4 grandchildren graduated. Our many new friends there remained so when we later moved to New York City but returned often and then permanently to St. Louis in 2019.
She also enjoyed her 30 year retirement in NYC, missing few theater, opera and ballet performances and courses at the Met Museum, and reuniting with Harvard classmates and new friends.
While in NYC she remained active in St. Louis, returning for her husband's St. Louis activities and seeing her 4 grandchildren grow up, while her son was a dean at Washington University, and her daughter-in-law taught at St. Louis University.
She and her husband also created and funded an annual "residency" program for outstanding international classics professors to spend a week at the University, giving lectures and meeting with faculty and students. 35 of them were selected; Mrs. Biggs attended their lectures and enjoyed knowing them. Several came who were stars from Harvard's faculty who had been close to her.
She is survived by her husband of 63 years, her son Henry and 4 grandsons—Jack, Alex, Charles and Thomas. A daughter Andrea died in 1980.
She was born in Boston and grew up there, combined with 4 separate years in Europe, when her family accompanied her father on major military and government assignments after WWII. She entered Radcliffe, then part of Harvard, graduating summa cum laude, studying classics, with a remarkable published achievement as an undergraduate.
Upon graduation she married a classmate, John H. Biggs (m. 1959), and she moved to St. Louis, to raise a family and enter Washington University, where she earned a Master's degree in Classics and a PhD in Comparative Literature.
After graduation she joined the faculty of Lindenwood College where she taught literature, published some of her research, and became tenured. After 8 years she left Lindenwood and accepted a senior position at Mary Institute, teaching advanced Latin courses.
She loved living in St. Louis in the Central West End during the great days of Gaslight Square, where she also was one of the founders of the New City School, from which her two children and all 4 grandchildren graduated. Our many new friends there remained so when we later moved to New York City but returned often and then permanently to St. Louis in 2019.
She also enjoyed her 30 year retirement in NYC, missing few theater, opera and ballet performances and courses at the Met Museum, and reuniting with Harvard classmates and new friends.
While in NYC she remained active in St. Louis, returning for her husband's St. Louis activities and seeing her 4 grandchildren grow up, while her son was a dean at Washington University, and her daughter-in-law taught at St. Louis University.
She and her husband also created and funded an annual "residency" program for outstanding international classics professors to spend a week at the University, giving lectures and meeting with faculty and students. 35 of them were selected; Mrs. Biggs attended their lectures and enjoyed knowing them. Several came who were stars from Harvard's faculty who had been close to her.
She is survived by her husband of 63 years, her son Henry and 4 grandsons—Jack, Alex, Charles and Thomas. A daughter Andrea died in 1980.
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