James F. Higgins

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JAMES F. HIGGINS
AGE: 88 FREEHOLD
James F. Higgins, 88, of Freehold died Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township. He was born on his family's farm in Colts Neck. He attended the Colts Neck Grammar School and Marlboro Grammar School, and was a graduate of Freehold High School, Class of 1941. He served as a technical sergeant in the U.S. Army 9th Air Force, 9th Bomber Command, 99th Bombardment Wing Medium, 391st Bomb Group, Headquarters in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. nHe began his lifelong career in funeral service at the Memorial Funeral Home, Plainfield. Following World War II he graduated from the Cincinnati College of Embalming, Cincinnati, Ohio. After serving at the Heyer Funeral Home, Hightstown he established the Higgins Memorial Home in Rumson in 1952 and moved the funeral home to Freehold in 1954. He was a member of Select Independent Funeral Homes, National Funeral Directors Association, New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association and the Monmouth-Ocean Funeral Directors Association. He was a communicant of St. Rose of Lima R.C. Church, Freehold. He had served on the Freehold Board of Education for 28 years including several terms as board president. He was a former member and chairman of the Freehold Borough Planning Board where he served for 18 years. He was a founding director and chairman of Hudson Manor, Freehold. Mr. Higgins was a member and past president of the Freehold Rotary Club and Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, a charter member of the Western Monmouth Exchange Club and was a recipient of the club's Book of Golden Deeds Award in 1985, a member of the Freehold Optimist Club, a member of the Freehold Township Lions Club and a recipient of the club's Melvin Jones Fellow Award, and a Past President of the Freehold Lions Club. He was a 63 year member of Monmouth Post No. 54, American Legion, a Past Commander of Hightstown American Legion Post No 148, and a Past Service Officer of the Mercer County American Legion. Last Veteran's Day he was decorated at the French Consulate in New York City as a World War II Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the American Society of the French Legion. He was a member of the 391st Bomb Group Association and the B-26 Marauder Historical Society. He was one of the veterans featured in Marching Home, a book about the lives of Freehold residents before and after World War II. He was a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No 4374, Freehold and a recipient of the post's Citizen of the Year Award. He was a member of B.P.O.E. Lodge No 1454, Freehold, a life member of Freehold Council 1672, Knights of Columbus, a member and Past Faithful Navigator of Msgr. Kivelitz General Assembly, 4th Degree Knights of Columbus; a former member of the Western Monmouth Y.M.C.A. Board of Directors, a former member of the Monmouth County Historical Association Board of Directors, and was awarded the 1996 John G. McGackin Award presented by Freehold Borough Mayor and Council for contribution to the Borough. He was a member of the Christian Brothers Academy Century Club, was awarded the Christian Brothers Academy Colt Spirit Award in 2000, and was named a Benefactor of the Institute of the De La Salle Christian Brothers in 2008.
His wife, Angela Nolan Higgins, died in 1997. His sister, Mary Higgins Kowalski, died in 2008. Surviving are two sons and daughters-in-law, J. Nolan and Christine S. Higgins and Gregory C. and Eileen Higgins; two brothers and a sister-in-law, John J. and Marian Higgins and Robert C. Higgins; four grandchildren, Jessica H. King and her husband Scott, Allison S. Higgins, Emily C. Higgins, and James M. Higgins; and great granddaughter, Bexley E. King.
Visiting hours will be held at the Higgins Memorial Home, 20 Center Street, Freehold on Wednesday from 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The Funeral Liturgy will be celebrated at St. Rose of Lima Church on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. followed by interment at the parish cemetery.

Published in Asbury Park Press on February 1, 2010 print

[Mike Rosseel]

I saw this posted on Freehold Live this morning, what a sad day. The higgins family is such a well respected family in Freehold and Mr. Higgins will be missed! God bless the Higgins family

[richardkelsey]

May he rest in peace. He was one very nice man.

[BrianSullivan]

freehold.injersey.com/2010/02/02/boro-council-remembers-great-public-servant/

James F. Higgins may be gone, but he leaves behind a "wonderful legacy" in Freehold, Borough Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer said Monday.

From the local school board to the Rotary Club to the Monmouth County Historical Association, it's easier to name an organization that Higgins wasn't involved in during his 88 years of life.

On Monday night, Council members sent their condolences to the Higgins family and shared their favorite reminiscences of the funeral director, who died Saturday.

"This man was quietly beneficent to many, many, MANY people," said Shutzer, who served with Higgins on the borough school board.

"Jim Higgins was a gentleman and a gentle man," she continued. "My heart breaks at his passing."


Mayor Michael Wilson knew Higgins his entire life, and saw him often through the years. What he'll always remember, he said, is Higgins' "hearty laugh."

"Without a question, (Higgins was) one of the greatest public servants in the history of Freehold Borough," Wilson said. "They just don't make people like Jimmy that often, folks."

[BrianSullivan]

newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2010-02-10/Front_Page/Higgins_was_noted_for_service_to_Freehold.html

Higgins was noted for service to Freehold

Funeral home director sat on many boards, worked with civic groups
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
When Jim Higgins died on Jan. 30, Freehold Borough lost a quiet philanthropist, a devoted civic and community volunteer, a consummate storyteller who remembered facts as well as legends, and a dear friend.
Jim Higgins Higgins, 88, was the founder of the Higgins Memorial Home, Center Street.

Freehold Borough historian Kevin Coyne said, “You cannot turn around in Freehold Borough without bumping into someone Jimmy touched.”

Coyne, who is an author, said that in addition to feeling the loss of a dear lifelong friend, he will also feel the loss of a person who filled in the gaps in his work, a person who lived life in Freehold Borough.

“I would call him all the time and ask about this one or that one and he always knew the answers,” Coyne said.

Higgins’ devotion to his family and his town are reflected in the time he spent as a member of municipal boards and civic organizations, and by his volunteer efforts in many areas.

Notably, he was a member of the Freehold Borough School District Board of Education for 28 years and a member of the borough’s Planning Board for 18 years.

In his eulogy for Higgins, Coyne recalled that years ago when Higgins went to the movies, he would tell he usher where he would be sitting. If somebody died and a family needed him, he wanted to be sure the ushers could find him.

“He was on duty even when he wasn’t,” Coyne said.

Higgins was a founding director and chairman of Hudson Manor, an apartment building for senior citizens that was built on Hudson Street.




He was a member of the Freehold Township Lions Club and a recipient of the club’s Melvin Jones Fellow Award and past president of the Freehold Lions Club; a member of the Freehold Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International; a charter member of the Western Monmouth Exchange Club; and a member of the Freehold Optimist Club.

Higgins, who served in the military duringWorldWar II, was a 63-year member of the Monmouth Post No. 54 American Legion; a past commander of the Hightstown American Legion; and on Veterans Day 2009, Higgins was decorated at the French Consulate in New York City as a World War II Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the American Society of the French Legion.

He was also a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 4374, Freehold, and a recipient of the post’s Citizen of the Year Award. He was a member of B.P.O.E. Lodge No. 1454, Freehold; a lifetime member of Freehold Council 1672, Knights of Columbus; a member of the Past Faithful Navigator of Msgr. Kivelitz General Assembly, 4th Degree Knights of Columbus; a former member of the YMCA board of directors; a former member of the Monmouth County Historical Association board of directors; and he was awarded the 1996 John G. McGackin Award for his contributions to Freehold Borough.

Coyne said that in Higgins’ line of work, the funeral director considered every life to be worth as much as every other one, and believed that everyone’s story was worth hearing.

“That is why he was so good at his job, because he understood that it wasn’t just about death. It was about life,” he said.

Higgins is one of the veterans featured in Coyne’s book, “Marching Home: To War and Back With the Men of One American Town.”

Higgins opened his funeral home in Freehold Borough in 1954, the same year he and his wife, Angela, were married. Angela Higgins died in 1997.

In his eulogy, Coyne said that “when you had to confront death — when you had to bury your parents, your spouse, your siblings, that it was comforting to be attended to by Jimmy,” who he called, “the affable, gentle soul with the red-rimmed eyes that always seemed on the verge of tears.

“That was maybe the most striking thing about him,” Coyne said. “The way he was able to laugh and cry at once. He could be dabbing at his leaky eyes, sad about a life that had ended, and then, in the same instant, a chuckle would bubble up, joy at the memory of something happy from that life.”

Roger Kane, a former mayor, said Higgins was a “terrific guy” and “always had a ready smile.”

“Sometimes that smile would be tempered, depending on the situation, but it was always there,” Kane recalled.

He said Higgins was one of the five original board members appointed to oversee Hudson Manor, which was built in 1977. Kane was Freehold’s mayor at the time.

“He was very supportive of the project. I felt this was an ideal spot for him. He saw the need for senior housing like we did and he was in on the ground floor of this project,” Kane said.

Higgins worked with the other board members, Andy Dale, John Watson, August Daesener and Ron Griffiths, and the borough’s attorney, Richard O’Connor, to get the apartment building off the ground.

“He was a great person to have on our board,” Kane said.

Higgins was the longtime president of the Hudson Manor board and Kane said he still managed to visit the residents at the apartment building several times a week.

“As president he had to sign things, but I really think he went because he enjoyed visiting with the people,” the former mayor said.

Kane said Higgins had an upbeat personality.

“He really cared about people and he was in the right business. He talked to people at one of the most difficult times in their lives. The town has lost a very, very good person,” Kane said.

Borough Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer served on the Board of Education with Higgins for six years. She said he was a “gentleman” and a “gentle man.”

“He loved life and my heart breaks at his passing,” she said. “Yet he leaves a wonderful legacy in his loving family who will carry on his work. I have such fond memories of my years with him.”

Mayor Michael Wilson called Higgins “a dear friend” he had known all his life.

“Without question, Jim was the greatest public servant in the history of Freehold Borough,” Wilson said. “They just don’t make people like Jimmy anymore.”

The mayor said he will always remember Higgins’ laughter and all of the service Higgins provided to Freehold Borough.

“He will be missed,” Wilson said.