Early Life and Academic Path
I think Raine Riggs lived with discipline, empathy, and purpose. On December 23, 1972, in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, she was born into a family that would define her life. The daughter of Richard Riggs and Rinda Yukevich Riggs, her early years were defined by strong familial bonds, academic excellence, and a remarkable sense of direction for a young child.
She was Burgettstown High School valedictorian by 1990. Detail counts since it shows more than grades. It indicates concentration, perseverance, and calm ambition. She then received a psychology degree at American University. Later, she studied at Harvard and Brown and earned a neuropsychology PhD at Vermont.
Her schooling feels like a plank-by-plank bridge. Each step gained weight, depth, and authority. She got more than degrees. She laid the groundwork for care, research, and service.
Professional Life and Career Achievements
Raine Riggs devoted her career to helping people whose needs often remained hidden beneath the surface. She worked in neuropsychology, geriatric psychology, palliative care, and research connected to cancer treatment and cognitive health. In practical terms, that meant she spent her life helping people navigate memory loss, illness, grief, aging, and the mental strain that can come with serious disease.
She received a National Institutes of Health award for research on the effects of chemotherapy on the brain. That work placed her in a field where science and human vulnerability meet. It was not just about data. It was about helping patients understand how treatment can alter thinking, memory, and daily life. Her work carried the weight of a lantern in a dark hallway, making difficult paths a little easier to see.
She also co directed Behavioral Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School for several years and helped launch the Dartmouth Medical Center Palliative Care Department. Those are substantial accomplishments. They show that she was not only a practitioner, but also a builder of institutions and programs. She helped shape systems that could serve more people than she alone ever could.
In addition, she owned Riggs Geriatric Psychology, PLLC in Windsor, Vermont. That practice focused on geriatric adults and offered neuropsychological and dementia evaluations, competency evaluations, memory screening, treatment for anxiety and depression, end of life support, family and caregiver support, and home safety evaluations. The breadth of that work shows a rare combination of clinical rigor and humane attention.
Personal Relationships and Family Life
The center of Raine Riggs’s personal story was her marriage to Levi Sanders. Their relationship began in a humble and deeply human setting, as they met while working at an emergency food shelter in Vermont. That origin feels meaningful. It suggests shared values from the start, not just romance but service, not just attraction but a common ethic of care.
Levi Sanders is her spouse, and their life together became a family story that included three children: Sunnee Riggs Sanders, Ryleigh Riggs Sanders, and Grayson Riggs Sanders. Motherhood was described as her crowning achievement, and that phrase fits because it places her children at the heart of her identity, not at the margins.
Her family was not limited to the household she built with Levi. Her parents, Richard Riggs and Rinda Yukevich Riggs, remained important figures in her life. Her sibling, Renee Riggs, was also part of her family circle, along with Renee’s husband, Pete Jaskiewicz. Beyond that immediate circle, her extended family included a wide web of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Her grandparents were Gertrude M. Wilber Riggs, Carmelita Lee Gaines Yukevich, Herbert Lewis Riggs, and Vincent W. Yukevich Jr. Some had passed before her, yet they still belonged to the larger family story that shaped her. Her aunts and uncles included Darlene Kuhn and her husband Donald, Randolph Ryan, Todd Clark, Herb Riggs and his wife Jane, Dorcia Lee Ryan, and Vincent Yukevich III. Her cousins included Heather Kuhn, Nolan Ryan, Eric Ryan and his wife Chrissy, and Kristen Yukevich.
Her in laws also formed a notable part of her family life. Her father in law was Sen. Bernard Sanders, known widely as Bernie Sanders, and her mother in law was Jane Sanders. The obituary material also names Susan Glaeser and her husband Hendrik in the extended family network. This broad family web shows that Raine lived inside a large and layered circle, one that stretched across generations like roots under a wide tree.
Service, Values, and Work Beyond the Clinic
The fact that Raine Riggs cared about multiple roles stood out. She volunteered for pediatric hospice. She assisted the destitute and veterans. She counseled at Ground Zero following 9/11. These are major acts. They indicate a person who reacted to suffering.
Her service effort expanded her career. She wasn’t just aiding office and hospital patients. She entered catastrophe, loss, and uncertainty. Her professional journey feels bigger than a resume. It depicts a person who gave psychological talent and stability to locations that required them.
Academically, she studied cancer treatment’s cognitive consequences and palliative care education. This is significant because it displays a mind that was both practical and scholarly. Medical proof need compassion to be useful in real life, she realized.
Family Members at a Glance
| Family Member | Relationship to Raine Riggs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Riggs | Father | Part of her original family home |
| Rinda Yukevich Riggs | Mother | Present in her final days |
| Levi Sanders | Husband | Met her while working at an emergency food shelter |
| Sunnee Riggs Sanders | Child | One of her three children |
| Ryleigh Riggs Sanders | Child | One of her three children |
| Grayson Riggs Sanders | Child | One of her three children |
| Renee Riggs | Sibling | Named in family records |
| Pete Jaskiewicz | Brother in law through Renee | Part of the extended family |
| Bernard Sanders | Father in law | Widely known as Bernie Sanders |
| Jane Sanders | Mother in law | Levi Sanders’s mother |
Extended Timeline
1990: She graduated as valedictorian from Burgettstown High School.
Early adulthood: She studied psychology at American University, then continued graduate study at Harvard and Brown.
Later training: She completed a doctorate in neuropsychology at the University of Vermont.
Professional years: She co directed Behavioral Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School and helped launch Dartmouth Medical Center’s Palliative Care Department.
Practice years: She owned and operated Riggs Geriatric Psychology, PLLC in Windsor, Vermont.
Family life: She married Levi Sanders and became the mother of Sunnee, Ryleigh, and Grayson.
October 2019: She died after a brief battle with neuroendocrine cancer.
FAQ
Who was Raine Riggs?
Raine Riggs was a neuropsychologist, researcher, and clinician whose work focused on aging, cancer related cognitive effects, palliative care, and patient support. I see her as someone who blended science with compassion and built a career around care that was both technical and deeply human.
Who were Raine Riggs’s closest family members?
Her closest family members were her husband, Levi Sanders, her children Sunnee, Ryleigh, and Grayson, her parents Richard Riggs and Rinda Yukevich Riggs, and her sibling Renee Riggs. Her family life was broad, but those names sit at the center of her personal story.
What kind of work did Raine Riggs do?
She worked in neuropsychology and geriatric psychology. She also contributed to palliative care, dementia evaluation, counseling, and research on how cancer treatment affects cognition. Her work moved across the border between clinic and scholarship.
Did Raine Riggs have a private practice?
Yes, she owned Riggs Geriatric Psychology, PLLC in Windsor, Vermont. Her practice served older adults and included neuropsychological assessments, dementia evaluations, competency evaluations, memory screening, and support for families and caregivers.
What made Raine Riggs’s life story notable?
Her story is notable because she combined academic achievement, professional leadership, family devotion, and service to vulnerable communities. She was valedictorian, a doctoral level specialist, a mother of three, and a caregiver in both public and private ways.
