Man Who Helped Grow Oxford-University Transit Dies at 65

By Alyssa Schnugg
News Editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

OUT Superintendent Ron Biggs died suddenly last week from a heart attack. He was 65.
Photo by Juliette St. Romain

Ron Biggs, superintendent of the Oxford-Transit Commission, died Dec. 8 at his home in Oxford.

He was 65 years old.

According to Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy, Biggs died from heart failure.

Biggs wore many hats before being the first person hired to manage the Oxford-University Transit System in 2008.

Originally from Decatur, Illinois, Biggs moved to in the 1970s where he worked as a security guard at The Museum of Contemporary Art, a security guard for a Saudi prince and served on the Los Angeles Police Department. He returned to Decatur in the 1990s where he worked for Moran & Goebel, Decatur Mass Transit, Walker Funeral Service and Washington Bus Line.

He moved to Tupelo in 2006 where he worked with his brother Willie at Serenity Funeral Home and Campbell Tours.

Biggs moved to Oxford in 2007 where he worked as a bus driver for the Oxford School District and as a reserve police officer with the Oxford Police Department before being hired in 2008 to run the newly established OUT system.

Ron Biggs

He was also an ordained pastor. In Oxford, he was a memDonna Zampella as Interim Directorber of the Toby Tubby Missionary Baptist Church.

In a March Oxford Stories article, Biggs said the most rewarding part of his job as superintendent of OUT was seeing the overall success of the transit system.

“When we first started, there were many people who were negative and did not think the transportation system would work, but we have grown to be quite successful now,” he said.

Donna Zampella was appointed as Interim Director until the Board of Aldermen can go through the hiring process to find someone to fill the position permanently.

Services for Biggs were held in Oxford on Dec. 13 at the Tallahatchie-Oxford Missionary Baptist Association Building. He was buried in his hometown of Decatur in the Greenwood Cemetery on Dec. 16.

Biggs is survived by his fiance, Sherry Bond; two children, Tinoai Cotton and Ronald Biggs Jr.; four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; brothers, Bishop Willie Thornton of Belden, Roger Beals of St. Louis and Bishop Donald Biggs of Decatur; and his sister, Concetta Guyse of Decatur. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Roneisha Biggs, his parents, James and Lucy Biggs.

Juliette St. Romain with Oxford Stories and Serenity Funeral Homes contributed to this story.