Rachel Johnson Rigby, 96, died peacefully at her home in Pensacola, FL on Friday, October 12, 2018.

Rachel was born in Enterprise, AL on January 19, 1922 to Charles Herbert Johnson, a shoe repairman and farmer, and to Sadie Lammon Johnson, a homemaker and a minister with the Assemblies of God. The family later moved to Andalusia, AL where Rachel attended high school and became a member of the Honor Society. After high school, she attended Central Bible Institute in Springfield, MO where she earned a BA in Music Education with an emphasis on Children's Evangelism. For the next several years, she spent her summers conducting Children's Crusades in the Alabama and Northwest Florida districts of the Assemblies of God and at their Alabama youth camps.

It was at a youth crusade in Bratt, FL where she met the love of her life, Cecil Kyle Rigby. In her words, "It was love at first sight for both of us." Cecil and Rachel were married on March 14, 1948. Serving the Lord and doing what He led them to do was the singular goal of their lives from that point on. Rachel's greatest joy was being a wife and a mother, embracing all the duties that came with it. She was an excellent seamstress and sewed all of the clothes for her three daughters; she was well known for her cooking skills; she loved to entertain and plan a party or dinner; and she greatly enjoyed being creative and crafting for special occasions and holidays. While raising her young family, she shifted her energy to teaching piano and giving voice lessons. Rachel was very involved with First Assembly of God in Pensacola, FL where she served as the church organist, as a Sunday School teacher, and as the president of the Women's Ministry. Rachel became a Teacher's Aid with the Escambia County School system in 1966 and retired in 1986.

Rachel lived her Christian principles daily in her prayer life, her speech, and in her reading. She loved to write about and teach the Bible. There was seldom a day that she did not tell someone how good God was to her. She was homebound in her final weeks, and questioned God about her usefulness. There was no question that He had more work for her to do, so she woke every day with the attitude of "Let's see what the Lord has in store for me today." She shared Jesus every day with her sitters, her hospice attendees, the firemen that would come help lift her up, and even the solicitors who would call on the phone. She was the most thankful person you would ever meet, thus she touched many with her gracious attitude and her love for Jesus.

Rachel is preceded in death by her husband, Cecil Kyle Rigby; her parents, Charles Herbert Johnson and Sadie Lammon Johnson; her brothers, Clyde Johnson, Billy Johnson, and Charles Johnson; and her sister, Mary Keith Johnson.

Left behind to carry on her legacy are her children, Ruth Rigby (Mike, decd) of Cape Coral, FL, Rebekah Rigby of Pensacola, FL, Charles Rigby (Ann Marie) of Stow, OH, and Rosemary Staples (Tony) of Pensacola, FL; her grandchildren, Christopher Staples (Jennifer), Kyle Staples (Kathryn), Derek Rigby (Anna), Jared Staples, Kim Rigby, and Sean Rigby; also her great-grandchildren, Brock, Jaxon, and Sebastian Staples; as well as many nieces and nephews whom she dearly loved.

Please join us in celebrating a life well lived. Visitation will be held 10:00am until the Funeral Service at 11:00am Friday, October 19, 2018 at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel in Pensacola, FL. Burial will follow at Bratt Godwin Cemetery in Bratt, FL.

Pallbearers will be Greg Hodgen, Jonathan Little, Kyle Staples, Derek Rigby, Jared Staples, and Sean Rigby.

Honorary Pallbearers are her caregivers, Becky Garza, Kathy Mason, Frankie Ann Perez, Jennifer Tucker, and the wonderful personnel at Emerald Coast Hospice, who have taken such great care of our mom for the past year.