MIDDLEBORO -- Alvin Marshall Bigelow, 78, of Warren Avenue, died at home, Tuesday, March 5, 2002. He was the companion of the late Florence Rubinski and the former husband of Jeannette L. (Wood) Bigelow of Vineyard Haven.

A lifelong Middleboro resident, born on Sept. 19, 1923, he was the son of the late Fredrick and Ethel (Clark) Bigelow. He was a 1942 graduate of Middleboro High School.

Mr. Bigelow always wanted to become a farmer. He worked for Harcos Farms on Bay Road in Taunton for more than 20 years before he retired.

He was a decorated Army veteran, serving from 1942 to 1946. He was a recipient of Croix de Guerre Forragere by General Charles DeGaulle and received two Purple Hearts, the Distinguished Unit Badge and the Presidential Unit Citation.

He was a member of the Disabled American Veterans and was a frequent visitor at the Middleboro Council on Aging.
Starting in 1947, he kept a daily journal, recording the day's stock market activity and other items of interest like current prices for milk, eggs and other household items.

He and his family were the recent subjects of an article published in the Brockton Enterprise that detailed Mr. Bigelow's illness, the assistance of hospice and his daughter's decision to take a leave of absence from her job to help her father, an option only recently allowed under federal law.

Survivors include his former wife; a daughter, Judith Ann Bigelow-Costa, with whom he lived; two sons, R. Bradford Bigelow of Groton and Garth A. Bigelow of Buzzards Bay; three brothers, Edgar Bigelow of Natick, and Ernest Bigelow and Hugh Bigelow, both of Middleboro; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

He was the father of the late John Bigelow and Jay Bigelow and grandfather of the late Lance David Costa. He was the brother of the late Sylvia Stets, Enid Butler, Richard Bigelow, Winifred Bigelow, William Bigelow and Frederick Bigelow.
His memorial gathering will be 1-3 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at the Middleboro Council on Aging. Private burial will be on Martha's Vineyard.

Arrangements are by the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth Ave., Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro.