Yvonne Biggs

Yvonne Biggs passed away Sept. 1, 2020, of natural causes at the age of 94. She had been living at Buffalo Valley Lutheran Village where she had been receiving excellent care for the past four years.

She is survived by her three sons, the twins - Pat and Jim, and Alan; and four grandchildren, Cory, Jamie, Ben, and Skylar.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Hal, and her two brothers, Jean et Jacques.

Yvonne was born in Turkey in 1926 during one of her father's diplomatic missions. She was raised in various places, including some of the French African colonies, but mostly in France, living in Paris prior to the German invasion, and later in La Vizonné during the occupation. She was educated at The Sorbonne. During that time, she met her future husband, Hal Biggs, who was assigned to the US Army Medical Corps in 1945. Hal was playing the trumpet in an Army jazz band when they first met. They always said it was love at first sight. They were married in Paris in March 1946, and married again in Columbus, Ohio, upon their return to the US.

She moved to Lewisburg in 1947 when Hal took a position with Bucknell University as an assistant professor. During her 73-year residence in Lewisburg, Yvonne taught French in the Lewisburg Area School system, introducing many young people to the beauty and intricacy of the French language. She also taught in the summer program at Bucknell. After her teaching career, she used her fashion sense to promote the Lewisburg version of haute couture at The Lyons Shop and, later, The Wardrobe. She spent many of her summer hours at Glen Pool where she was among one of the original investors.

Yvonne was a fairly private person and would just like you all to know that she loved Lewisburg, she loved teaching French, and she was very happy to raise her family there. The cards that many of you sent her on her 90th birthday are still in a basket on her credenza - she was overwhelmed by your kindness at that time.

She asks for no specific donations or tributes, although she was a huge fan of our Lewisburg Public Library system. The donation of a book in her name would be lovely.

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