Obituary of John Higgins

John Gordon Higgins was born on November 15, 1921, to Albert Sidney Higgins and Salla Susan Jackson Higgins. He was the 5th child born to this union in Hereford, TX. John was raised in a farming/ranching family and grew up during the depression and dust bowl era. From this life he developed a good work ethic. John graduated from Hereford High School in 1938, at 16. He then went to work with his dad and brothers on the place in Hereford. He was called to the service with his oldest brother in the summer of 1942, his dad requested a deferment for him and his brother until the fall crops were in and the cattle were shipped. He enlisted in the Air Force on the 24th of Oct, 1922, and became an Aerial Engineer where he helped train bomber crews. He served with the 2526 AAF Base Unit; he also served as a crew chief and supervised the repair and maintenance of aircrafts. He really enjoyed his time in the military; he got to see sights that he couldn’t believe. John was honorably discharged from the Air Force on Feb 12 1946, which happened to be the birthday of his future bride. The family moved from Hereford to Texline, Texas not long after John was discharged, it was at a church service one Sunday that he saw his future bride. On November 15, 1947 John married Bernice Eads and that would be the start of a wonderful marriage. John and Bernice were unable to have kids of their own so after a while they decided to adopt some children to complete their family. James was the first to arrive followed by Cynthia, Janette and John. Dad often said that adopting these kids was the best thing they ever did. In 1968 John traded his farm and ranch in Texas for a ranch north of Limon Colorado. In 1978 Dad sold out his ranching enterprise and began to run a contract mail route from Limon to Arapahoe, Colorado he ran this route plus a rural route out of Arapahoe for almost 28 years. He finally retired in the spring of 2005 at the age of 83. While John always took pride in whatever he did ranching and working with livestock was his first love. John was a dedicated Christian and worked to instill this faith into his family’s life. He loved his family and would do anything for them. John is survived by his son James Higgins, Falcon, daughter Cynthia Helmuth (Dan) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, John (Brenda) Limon, his brother in-law Bill Eads and wife Ecolene (Clayton, NM), nine grandchildren, five great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.