Philippa Mary Nigg

May 23, 1951 - April 10, 2026

Phillipa Mary Scott was born in Durban, South Africa to Don and Bobs Scott and was the younger sister to Giles and Gill. Philippa (the change in the spelling of her name is an interesting mystery we may never have the answer to!) grew up in Durban, South Africa and Salsbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). She was an A student and an avid tennis player, winning the Jr Women's Nationals at a young age. In 1965 at a friendly doubles match, she met Dudley Nigg, who immediately adored her. That adoration went unabated for the next 60 years. Before getting married Philippa attended University of South Africa and got her degree. Dudley and Philippa were married in 1971 and spent their honeymoon camping in Southern Africa. Jean Nigg, Philippa's mother-in-law, once described driving behind Philippa and Dudley on a road trip and just watching them laugh and talk for hours. That shared banter lasted their entire life together. The same year they were married Philippa and Dudley moved to England. Philippa worked in computer programming, but found more joy in building a sail boat, windsurfing, learning to scuba dive and otherwise getting the skills that would be the basis of her adventurous life. In the late 70's Dudley was offered a job in California. Philippa decided that it was a good opportunity to start a family and their first daughter, Andrea, was born in 1978. Shortly after Dudley's work sent him back to England and they moved to Kent where she raised Andrea and had their second daughter, Caroline, in an at-home birth. In 1986 Dudley was offered a longer term role in the US and the family, including Carol, Philippa's heart-daughter, moved to California. Philippa went back to school and got her Masters in career counseling and worked as a guidance counselor, while raising Andrea and Caroline. Not finding joy in that, she went back to school and got her teaching credentials from St Mary's College in Moraga, California. Philippa was an amazing teacher...teaching 2nd grade and then moving to middle school. She chose a school district in Oakland, Ca where she felt she could have the biggest impact. She spent her free time driving her girls to horse shows (both of them can back a trailer without spilling their drink, thanks to her), learning to ski and planning amazing road trips and adventures for the family as well as raising guide dogs for the blind and housing random 4H animals. In 1987 Philippa and Dudley bought their dream house on five acres in the hills above Moraga. They renovated the house and the gardens to create an amazing oasis that housed the family, friends, horses and chickens, as well as a rather evil rooster. In a to-do list recently found, Philippa wrote down a goal of, "have a home where the door is always open!" She has accomplished this in every home she's lived in! In 1996 Andrea graduated from high school and moved to Southern California. In 1999 Caroline followed suit, attending Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. This left Philippa and Dudley as empty-nesters, but not for long, as they too flew the nest and headed out on their own adventure. They bought a 45-foot Island Packet sailboat and set a goal of sailing to Australia. That turned into a 12 year foray circumnavigating the globe. Years later Philippa would describe that first day as they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, "We had so much to learn and had been so busy preparing her (the boat was definitely a her) that we were still strangers to Happy Now, having spent much less time as planned actually sailing her. She was ready, but we were neophytes! When we sailed out on that overcast day I had never spent a night at sea and didn't know if my tendency to sea sickness would pass in a few days or stay with me the whole voyage (authors note...it was the latter!). Dudley was just learning to use his electronic navigation equipment and how Happy Now would handle at sea. Six years later I sit here off the Turkish Coast and think back to that naive pair settling forth and barely recognize ourselves." As they steadily sailed around the world the door to that home...or boat, was also always open and they were joined by family and friends along the way. They also jumped ship regularly to attend weddings, welcome grandchildren into the world, usher parents out of the world and Philippa continued to be the heart of a now growing family. In 2011 Happy Now returned to Mexico, having completed an around the world circumnavigation. In typical Dudley and Philippa fashion, they celebrated the accomplishment, sold the boat and moved on to new adventures! Those adventures included a change of location to Truckee, California where they decided to retire. Philippa took her retirement roles seriously...she was an avid hiker and a proud member of the Tahoe Donner Hiking Club. She was also a member of the Soroptomists of Truckee Donner and a board member for Journeys Within Our Community and Marine Megafauna Foundation. She was a political activist and attended the Women's March and the No Kings Rally. While Philippa was an amazing wife, mother, teacher, sailer, skier, hiker and philanthropist, her greatest role was that of Grandma. She was always up for getting on the floor to build a train set, reading a book or taking a squad of kids camping or hiking. She ensured her children and her grandchildren were highly capable and pushed them to be adventurous, brave, independent thinkers. Her devotion to her grandchildren was only slightly paled to her devotion to her pets, everyone wants to come back as an animal in Philippa and Dudley's house! Philippa passed after a seven year battle with cancer and there has been an outpouring of condolences. One of the repeated messages has been about Philippa's willingness to help, with no need for recognition. She was generous to her family, friends and the world, not for credit, but because it gave her joy to be so.