Francis Hutton Riggs, also known as Frank Riggs, a retired Air Force colonel who later lived his boyhood dream of becoming a fur trapper, died July 20, 2019, at Falcon's Landing in Potomac Falls, VA.  He was 99 years old.

He joined the Army in 1941 and entered basic training at Fort Belvoir's Army Engineer Program.  He transferred to flight school in South Carolina in 1942 and became a flight instructor in 1943.  In 1944 he was sent to the 15 ^th Air Base in San Pancranzio, Italy.  He flew 16 missions into German-held territories, and was wounded during a raid over Vienna, Austria when incoming flak from German artillery shattered the window of the B-17 he was flying.  Though bleeding from a head wound, he returned his plane and crew (shaken but alive) safely to home base.  He received a Purple Heart for this mission.

He left the Army Air Corps after World War II and re-entered into the newly formed Air Force in 1947.  Later he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command and flew B-45s and B-47s.  Col. Riggs retired from a post at the Pentagon in 1972.

Francis, son of Alverdo O. and Lawrason B. Riggs, was born in Brookeville, MD on May 16, 1920 and lived there until his enlistment in the Army in 1941.  He graduated from Sherwood Forest High School in Silver Spring, MD.  He attended the University of Virginia, Strayer College and the University of Maryland.  He received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from George Washington University.

Col.Riggs retired from the United States Air Force in 1972 and moved to Prescott, AZ, where he became active in the Arizona Trappers' Association and ran the state fur auction for several years.  He was predeceased by his first wife, Ann Lasswell Riggs in 1991, and his second wife, Irene M. Riggs in 2011.  Survivors include his daughters Page R. Bradley, Valerie L. Makovic, Miriam E. Riggs and sons John H. Riggs and Francis R.H. Riggs.  He had 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Col. Riggs will be buried with full military honors at Arlington Cemetery at a later time.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the National Wildlife Federation.