Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
NameElizabeth Hilton ECKART 
Birth26 Feb 1918, San Francisco, San Francisco, California481, p 4; date only,940,501, p 5; date only
Removalabt 1990, Arizona940 Age: 71
Cremation29 Jun 1998, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona940 Age: 80
MemoMission Crematory
OccupationPsychiatry; Counseling937, p 2
Residence1914 Leisure World, Mesa, AZ940
FlagsMayflower Descendant
FatherNelson Andrew ECKART (1878-1958)
MotherGrace Winslow KNOWLTON (1878-1968)
Individual Notes
• We were so pleased to hear that Nelson and Grace have another little daughter, and that Mother and child are fine.941, p 2
• At 1921 Thanksgiving dinner, 3014 Clay Street, San Francisco.33
• Maid of Honor at the wedding of her sister, Miss Eleanor Carlisle Eckart.922
• Signed guest book at wedding of Joy Folger Matteson and Eleanor Carlisle Eckart.475, p 3
• As far as I know she never married. Was in the service in WWII.942
• I made a wonderful new (80 year old) friend who was my seat mate both to and from Florida over the holidays (all 4 legs of the trip [and what are the chances of that ever happening again?]). Anyway her dear friend in high school was Elizabeth Eckart of the Sea Cliff area in San Francisco. I’m sure it’s the same Elizabeth Eckart of the Nelson Eckart family you are looking for because that’s where they lived.943
• Informant on Death Certificate: Martha E. Burke, Niece.940
• Aunt Elizabeth did attend UC, Berkeley and was a Delta Gamma there. I’m not sure that she graduated. She and Biggs were at Pearl Harbor during the bombing on December 8th [sic]. He was stationed there and Aunt Elizabeth was in the Red Cross. She told me that (for some reason I have thought he was a Col.) Biggs was on the roof of Scofield (sp?) barracks in his boxer shorts shooting at the Japanese with a rifle (or some other equally useless weapon in light of the magnitude of the attack). Aunt Elizabeth also told me that she had been pregnant and miscarried three days after the attack. When I asked if she thought it was related to the attack she said no. Still I wonder… Her mother, Grace did not approve of her marriage and I think was also disappointed because Aunt Elizabeth rejected Christian Science which my grandmother’s life and also because Aunt Elizabeth partied too much. When the war was over, Aunt Elizabeth and her husband had grown apart and she said she wasn’t interested in being a housewife. She shocked her mother by getting a divorce. “No one in our family has ever” etc. Aunt Elizabeth went to either USC or UCLA and Columbia (not sure which order) and got her doctorate in psychiatric social work or what ever the proper term was then. She taught at USC or UCLA for awhile and then lived and worked in Seattle for years. She and her mother had a hard time, I think. When Aunt Elizabeth died, she told me that she would like to be buried next to her mother in the family plot at Colma, outside of San Francisco, because she said she had finally reconciled with her mom. Aunt Elizabeth played tennis, hiked, floated the Grand Canyon when she was in her seventies and was bright and funny and kept in touch with her friends throughout her life. She was also my best friend as well as a loved aunt. I have a lot of her papers and odds and ends in my basement. I’m sure there is more hidden away down there that I don’t know about her life. This is a little more than you asked, but it’s good stuff! Martha944
• Arrived Hamilton Field, Calif., US Army Plane C-54. Gives her name as Elizabeth Biggs and her residence same as father’s; Father, Nelson A. Eckart, 242 30th Ave., San Francisco945
• yes, yes, what am I thinking, that was my father’s first wife. I don’t know that I ever knew her maiden name so I was concentrating on the Eckart part, not the Elizabeth. It is proven and I may have documents to show that (maybe div papers).946
• At 1921 Thanksgiving dinner, 3014 Clay Street, San Francisco.33
• Maid of Honor at the wedding of her sister, Miss Eleanor Carlisle Eckart.922
• Signed guest book at wedding of Joy Folger Matteson and Eleanor Carlisle Eckart.475, p 3
• As far as I know she never married. Was in the service in WWII.942
• I made a wonderful new (80 year old) friend who was my seat mate both to and from Florida over the holidays (all 4 legs of the trip [and what are the chances of that ever happening again?]). Anyway her dear friend in high school was Elizabeth Eckart of the Sea Cliff area in San Francisco. I’m sure it’s the same Elizabeth Eckart of the Nelson Eckart family you are looking for because that’s where they lived.943
• Informant on Death Certificate: Martha E. Burke, Niece.940
• Aunt Elizabeth did attend UC, Berkeley and was a Delta Gamma there. I’m not sure that she graduated. She and Biggs were at Pearl Harbor during the bombing on December 8th [sic]. He was stationed there and Aunt Elizabeth was in the Red Cross. She told me that (for some reason I have thought he was a Col.) Biggs was on the roof of Scofield (sp?) barracks in his boxer shorts shooting at the Japanese with a rifle (or some other equally useless weapon in light of the magnitude of the attack). Aunt Elizabeth also told me that she had been pregnant and miscarried three days after the attack. When I asked if she thought it was related to the attack she said no. Still I wonder… Her mother, Grace did not approve of her marriage and I think was also disappointed because Aunt Elizabeth rejected Christian Science which my grandmother’s life and also because Aunt Elizabeth partied too much. When the war was over, Aunt Elizabeth and her husband had grown apart and she said she wasn’t interested in being a housewife. She shocked her mother by getting a divorce. “No one in our family has ever” etc. Aunt Elizabeth went to either USC or UCLA and Columbia (not sure which order) and got her doctorate in psychiatric social work or what ever the proper term was then. She taught at USC or UCLA for awhile and then lived and worked in Seattle for years. She and her mother had a hard time, I think. When Aunt Elizabeth died, she told me that she would like to be buried next to her mother in the family plot at Colma, outside of San Francisco, because she said she had finally reconciled with her mom. Aunt Elizabeth played tennis, hiked, floated the Grand Canyon when she was in her seventies and was bright and funny and kept in touch with her friends throughout her life. She was also my best friend as well as a loved aunt. I have a lot of her papers and odds and ends in my basement. I’m sure there is more hidden away down there that I don’t know about her life. This is a little more than you asked, but it’s good stuff! Martha944
• Arrived Hamilton Field, Calif., US Army Plane C-54. Gives her name as Elizabeth Biggs and her residence same as father’s; Father, Nelson A. Eckart, 242 30th Ave., San Francisco945
• yes, yes, what am I thinking, that was my father’s first wife. I don’t know that I ever knew her maiden name so I was concentrating on the Eckart part, not the Elizabeth. It is proven and I may have documents to show that (maybe div papers).946
Census
• 1920 Census: Groveland, Tuolumne, California. Age 1, b CA. Father b NV; mother b CA.495
• 1930 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 12, b CA. Father b NV; mother b CA.496
• 1930 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 12, b CA. Father b NV; mother b CA.496
Spouses
Birth12 Oct 1917, Washington947, year only,948, date only,949, place only
Death16 Oct 1997, Williamsburg?, Williamsburg, Virginia947, year only,948, gives date as 17 Oct 1997,950 Age: 80
Burial30 Oct 1997, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia951
MemoSection 6, Site 9492
NicknameDick952, p 4
ResidenceDeath Residence Zip Code: 23188; Williamsburg, James City, Virginia948
Death causerenal cancer953
FatherChester Malen BIGGS (1896-)
MotherHelen Constance KIRBY-PAIN (~1896-)
Individual Notes
• Colonel Biggs, a native of Seattle, WA, graduated from Queen Anne High School in 1935. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, Skull and Keys and other honorary societies, and captain of the Freshman Track Team. In 1939, he received a bachelor's degree and an Infantry ROTC commission.
He began active duty in February of 1941, and was stationed with the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, at the time of the Japanese attack. He continued to serve with the regiment in Australia and through campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines until mid-1945 in positions from platoon leader to regimental executive officer.
He held key staff positions with the US Military Government Command in Korea from 1946 to 1948, including seven months as one of two US XXIV Corps Liaison Officers representing the US with the Soviet Union Army headquarters in Pyongyang during the early development of the North Korean armed forces and the beginning of the Cold War.
In 1948, Colonel Biggs married Kitty Nettles with whom he later had three children, Richard Kirby Biggs, Deborah C. Biggs, and Timothy C. Biggs.
Colonel Biggs successfully completed the Transportation School Advanced Officers Course in 1951 and was immediately assigned to the Office of the Chief of Transportation in Washington, D.C. As a Transportation Corps officer he went on to command battalion level units in Korea during the war and later in Germany, where he also became the V Corps Transportation Officer. He attended several Army schools, including the Army Command and General Staff College, where he also taught for four years, and graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1960. He commanded the 4th Terminal Command at Fort Eustis from 1963 to 1964.
Following his retirement from the military in 1966, he became the civilian assistant to the principal logistics officer in Headquarters, US Army Europe until 1972. He held the senior civilian logistics position in the Defense Attaché Office, Saigon, from 1973 to 1974, and then served on the Army General Staff. In 1976, he was appointed assistant director for materiel maintenance, Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. He was later assigned as the deputy commander of the Engineer Logistics Command in Saudi Arabia, retiring from his civilian Army career in 1981.
He was awarded the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star, both with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal and numerous civilian awards from the US Government and the Republic of Vietnam as well as a Distinguished Member of the Transportation Corps Regiment. He also worked for a defense contractor operating the US base maintenance contract in Turkey, and as a consultant with a number of other base maintenance contractors.
During 1993 and 1994 he volunteered at Fort Eustis as a co-author of the book Spearhead of Logistics : A History of the United States Army Transportation Corps, the definitive history of US Army transportation from the Colonial period to the present and required reading for all Transportation officer students.
Colonel Biggs served as the executive vice president of the board of directors of the Army Transportation Museum Foundation, and belonged to several professional military associations. He was a volunteer in the Elderhostel programs at the College of William and Mary and also a very active member of the James City County community.947
• Dave, I don’t have any information or knowledge personally about “Dick” Biggs. I think that I may be able to find something in Aunt Elizabeth’s papers which are stored in my basement. Aunt Elizabeth told me very little and they were divorced before I was in the picture. However, it seems to me that at one time I found an obituary notice among her things and that might help us if I can find it again. I just don’t know anything about him. Martha954
• My dad was at Pearl Harbor. They felt after the war (according to him) that they married too young and were somewhat strangers so decided to divorce. Actually he was ‘excommunicated’ for communion from the Catholic church for divorcing. How funny to come across this relationship.946
• just a little more about Pearl Harbor. My dad was shaving when the bombing started and had only shaved half his face. He and a LT. ran to the armory to get weapons as they didn’t have anything issued out. The MP there refused to let them in. They knocked him down, broke open the armory and began issuing rifles and weapons. He then did as you heard, climbed on the roof and started firing. Once the wave was over they hurriedly got dressed and took a company and climbed up into the Mt to fight off the Japs where they were in the field around 7 days. When he came back down, he had a growth of beard on one side, but much less on the other. He went into the day room and the soldiers there who keep daily records had transcribed them and thrown away the copy. He took it and has had it for many years. Before he died, he and my Mom went back to Hawaii and gave the original to the Arizona museum.
He was indeed a strong drinker back in those days, but loads of fun and a grad of UC Berkley. I am sure I have pics of Elizabeth (if my mom didn’t get rid of them…) but his college yearbook for sure may have some pics of her.
Apparently neither family approved of the marriage, and I’m sure my Dad was too wild in those days.
He did, of course settle down and really was a wonderful father, husband and family man. I didn’t know she had miscarried, so that is news to me.
We can talk more if you want, but this is a confirmed marriage.
Debbie946
• My Dad stayed in the military 30 years, then civil service for 15, then private sector military work. They were stationed first in San Fran where my older brother Kirby (Richard K.) was born in May 1949.
The next year they came back to Williamsburg (Ft. Eustis) area where I was born in Sept 1950. (Dad was all transportation and logistics as you can see that the transportation library was named in his honor posthumously and he co-wrote the ‘spearhead of logistics’ which is used today for officers in the Trans. corp. after he retired)
Dad then went into the Korean war and Mom and Kirby and I went to live in Fla. near her relatives while he was gone.
When he came back, he was stationed and taught at the industrial college in Ft. Leavenworth where Timmy, my younger brother was born in Dec 1956.
We stayed there for about 4 more years, then back to Washington DC for a year. In 1963, we headed overseas to Germany for 3 years, then back to Ft. Eustis. Once again in 1968 back to Heidelberg, Germany for 5 years.
From there it is a litany of the places they lived. He served as head of civilians 2 years in Saigon, VN during the fall of that city, and in Turkey twice for two year stints both after he retired and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a private contractor.
He and Mom eventually retired to Williamsburg, Va where they live for about 7 years before he got renal cancer and eventually died from that.953
He began active duty in February of 1941, and was stationed with the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, at the time of the Japanese attack. He continued to serve with the regiment in Australia and through campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines until mid-1945 in positions from platoon leader to regimental executive officer.
He held key staff positions with the US Military Government Command in Korea from 1946 to 1948, including seven months as one of two US XXIV Corps Liaison Officers representing the US with the Soviet Union Army headquarters in Pyongyang during the early development of the North Korean armed forces and the beginning of the Cold War.
In 1948, Colonel Biggs married Kitty Nettles with whom he later had three children, Richard Kirby Biggs, Deborah C. Biggs, and Timothy C. Biggs.
Colonel Biggs successfully completed the Transportation School Advanced Officers Course in 1951 and was immediately assigned to the Office of the Chief of Transportation in Washington, D.C. As a Transportation Corps officer he went on to command battalion level units in Korea during the war and later in Germany, where he also became the V Corps Transportation Officer. He attended several Army schools, including the Army Command and General Staff College, where he also taught for four years, and graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1960. He commanded the 4th Terminal Command at Fort Eustis from 1963 to 1964.
Following his retirement from the military in 1966, he became the civilian assistant to the principal logistics officer in Headquarters, US Army Europe until 1972. He held the senior civilian logistics position in the Defense Attaché Office, Saigon, from 1973 to 1974, and then served on the Army General Staff. In 1976, he was appointed assistant director for materiel maintenance, Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. He was later assigned as the deputy commander of the Engineer Logistics Command in Saudi Arabia, retiring from his civilian Army career in 1981.
He was awarded the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star, both with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal and numerous civilian awards from the US Government and the Republic of Vietnam as well as a Distinguished Member of the Transportation Corps Regiment. He also worked for a defense contractor operating the US base maintenance contract in Turkey, and as a consultant with a number of other base maintenance contractors.
During 1993 and 1994 he volunteered at Fort Eustis as a co-author of the book Spearhead of Logistics : A History of the United States Army Transportation Corps, the definitive history of US Army transportation from the Colonial period to the present and required reading for all Transportation officer students.
Colonel Biggs served as the executive vice president of the board of directors of the Army Transportation Museum Foundation, and belonged to several professional military associations. He was a volunteer in the Elderhostel programs at the College of William and Mary and also a very active member of the James City County community.947
• Dave, I don’t have any information or knowledge personally about “Dick” Biggs. I think that I may be able to find something in Aunt Elizabeth’s papers which are stored in my basement. Aunt Elizabeth told me very little and they were divorced before I was in the picture. However, it seems to me that at one time I found an obituary notice among her things and that might help us if I can find it again. I just don’t know anything about him. Martha954
• My dad was at Pearl Harbor. They felt after the war (according to him) that they married too young and were somewhat strangers so decided to divorce. Actually he was ‘excommunicated’ for communion from the Catholic church for divorcing. How funny to come across this relationship.946
• just a little more about Pearl Harbor. My dad was shaving when the bombing started and had only shaved half his face. He and a LT. ran to the armory to get weapons as they didn’t have anything issued out. The MP there refused to let them in. They knocked him down, broke open the armory and began issuing rifles and weapons. He then did as you heard, climbed on the roof and started firing. Once the wave was over they hurriedly got dressed and took a company and climbed up into the Mt to fight off the Japs where they were in the field around 7 days. When he came back down, he had a growth of beard on one side, but much less on the other. He went into the day room and the soldiers there who keep daily records had transcribed them and thrown away the copy. He took it and has had it for many years. Before he died, he and my Mom went back to Hawaii and gave the original to the Arizona museum.
He was indeed a strong drinker back in those days, but loads of fun and a grad of UC Berkley. I am sure I have pics of Elizabeth (if my mom didn’t get rid of them…) but his college yearbook for sure may have some pics of her.
Apparently neither family approved of the marriage, and I’m sure my Dad was too wild in those days.
He did, of course settle down and really was a wonderful father, husband and family man. I didn’t know she had miscarried, so that is news to me.
We can talk more if you want, but this is a confirmed marriage.
Debbie946
• My Dad stayed in the military 30 years, then civil service for 15, then private sector military work. They were stationed first in San Fran where my older brother Kirby (Richard K.) was born in May 1949.
The next year they came back to Williamsburg (Ft. Eustis) area where I was born in Sept 1950. (Dad was all transportation and logistics as you can see that the transportation library was named in his honor posthumously and he co-wrote the ‘spearhead of logistics’ which is used today for officers in the Trans. corp. after he retired)
Dad then went into the Korean war and Mom and Kirby and I went to live in Fla. near her relatives while he was gone.
When he came back, he was stationed and taught at the industrial college in Ft. Leavenworth where Timmy, my younger brother was born in Dec 1956.
We stayed there for about 4 more years, then back to Washington DC for a year. In 1963, we headed overseas to Germany for 3 years, then back to Ft. Eustis. Once again in 1968 back to Heidelberg, Germany for 5 years.
From there it is a litany of the places they lived. He served as head of civilians 2 years in Saigon, VN during the fall of that city, and in Turkey twice for two year stints both after he retired and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a private contractor.
He and Mom eventually retired to Williamsburg, Va where they live for about 7 years before he got renal cancer and eventually died from that.953
Census
• 1930 Census: Seattle, King, Washington. Age 12, b WA. Father b TX; mother b Canada Eng.949
Divorce23 Apr 1947, San Francisco, San Francisco, California940, divorce only,945, 30 Oct 1945; living with her father,947, p 2; marriage to his second wife,955, p 3
No Children