What celebration there must have been in Heaven when, on early Saturday morning before Easter, April 3, 2010, Alleen Celeste Wiggins completed her transformation and made her safe flight from earth below to dwell eternally with her Heavenly Father above.

Celeste, as she was affectionately called, was born in Sparta, Va., the third and baby daughter of Morris Stafford Morton and Eliza Blanche Banks Morton. She joined First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Sparta as a child, attending Sunday School regularly and served as a Secretary on fifth Sundays for the Mattaponi Baptist Training Union (BTU).

After graduating from Union High in 1943, at the age of 16, she received her Bachelor of Science at Virginia State College. On August 3, 1949, she received her State Teachers Certificate from the Commonwealth of Virginia's State Board of Education. She then came back to Union High School where she organized and developed the Library and became Union High School's first Librarian. Later, she was initiated into the "Sorority of Public Service", becoming a member of the Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. On June 19, 1963, she received her Master of Education in Library Sciences from the University of Cincinnati which was the same day that her beloved Jesse received his Master's at the same University. She was commissioned on May 10, 1978, by the Governor of Illinois to serve on the prestigious Department of Children and Family Services Advisory Council overseeing programs for the entire State, having access to the private jet. She received numerous awards from the National Association of University Women, YWCA Leadership recognition, the Urban League, NAACP, and was the founder of the Peoria Chapter of the National Association of College Women (an organization founded at Howard University in 1910).

She is survived by one son, Jay Orlando; two sisters, Hannah E. Coley and Olive Minor; one brother, Sherman M. Morton; four sisters-in-law, Olga Morton, Grace, Doris and Gerry Wiggins; ten nephews, Donald and Phillip Wiggins, Gregory and Marcus Coley, Gary Minor (Lena), Rick Morton, Gary Morton (Sharrarne),Timothy and Gerald Schuman and E. Kenneth Barksdale (Karen); six nieces, Marjorie Coley, Debra Smith, Deborah Coley, Cheryl Coley, Constance Hall, and Cheryl Mallory (Wilbur). She was preceded in death by her husband of almost 52 years, Jesse O. Wiggins of Elizabeth, NJ; older sister, Ruth Morton Barksdale Phillips; and a brother, Russell Morton.

A viewing will be held on Friday, April 9, from noon to 8 p.m. at C. W. Edwards Funeral Home, Inc., 16476 Richmond Turnpike, Bowling Green, VA. 22427, and one hour prior to service at the church on Saturday.

A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 10, at First Mount Zion Baptist Church, 17065 Seals Road, Sparta, VA. 22552. The family is requesting that relatives and friends dress in blue attire in honor of Celeste's love for the color of blue.

Interment will be at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 13, at Quantico National Cemetery in Triangle, Virginia.