James Arthur Higdon Sr.

DOVER - James Arthur Higdon Sr., passed away Tuesday, March 24, 2009, in Kent General Hospital. He was born in Manassas, Va., on July 30, 1925, the son of Geneva Ankers and Robert Higdon. He and his mother resided at her family's ancestral home, the Ankerage, now the site of the Loundon Campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Mr. Higdon enlisted in the Army after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and served as a Staff Sergeant and Medic primarily in Burma and China. Mr. Higdon received the Bronze Star Medal the fourth-highest award for bravery and heroism. Following his war service, Mr. Higdon returned to Virginia where he met the beautiful Lois Sarah Harris Lowery and her son David K. Lowery. Jim and Lois married on July 30, 1950, and moved to Wilmington, where he began his 30-plus year career with Duponts, retiring in 1983 as Plant Electrical Maintenance Superintendent. Mr. Higdon also farmed full time until 1999. On Dec. 30, 1990, his much beloved wife Lois, died from pancreatic cancer, they had been married 40 years. Mr. Higdon never remarried and continued farming until he sold his farm in 1999, and moved to Dover. Fiercely independent, strong principled through and through, Mr. Higdon was a genuine giant of a man who never gave up, always seeking solutions to obstacles. He continued to challenge himself intellectually through his love of reading and staying well informed on the world's politics. Although stunned by the tragic suddenness of Mr. Higdon's death, his children Jim, Brenda, and Doug share in love their deep appreciation for their father and mother, who loved their children equally and taught them the meaning of self-reliance, self-responsibility, and the courage to always face life head on and to fight against all obstacles until the last moment of life. Mr. Higdon was a 50 year member of the Newport Masonic Lodge 31 AF & AM. He was a generous supporter of the Townsend Immanuel Methodist Church, Willow Grove Church of God, and the Delaware Hospice Center. He was a 10 year volunteer for the Dover Meals on Wheels program. Mr. Higdon is survived by his children, James Arthur Higdon Jr., Douglas William Higdon, Brenda Lynn Bigdon Bennett; his daughters-in-law, Terry Higdon and Yong Higdon; his son-in-law, John Bennett; his nieces, Darlene Cobb and Lois Clark; his grandchildren, Michelle Wyatt, John Higdon, David Lowery Jr., Janet Lowery, Jacob Bennett and Jessica Bennett; his grand-niece, Lisa Cobb; and grand-nephew, Brian Clark; his great-grand-nephew, Justin Gray; and his great-granddaughter, Alexis Ballard. Viewing will be 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Pippin Funeral Home, 119 W. Camden-Wyoming Avenue, Wyoming. Services will be 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Mt. Olive Cemetery, Sandtown. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Townsend Immanuel Methodist Church, 209 W. Main St., Townsend, DE 19734, Willow Grove Church of God, 90 Honeysuckle Road, Camden-Wyoming, DE 19934 or the Delaware Hospice Center, 911 S. DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901. Letters of condolences can be sent via www.pippinfuneralhome.com.