Mary E. Higgins, 84, a native of Philadelphia and a longtime resident of Perdido Beach, died Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008 after a long illness.
She was born Mary Iseman on Jan. 5, 1924. She and her family moved to Baldwin County in the 1920s. Her father, Joseph, and his partner, Peter Pluscht, operated the Elberta Locker Plant, and delivered fresh meat to communities from Magnolia Springs to Lillian.
In 1933, her family moved to Cleveland, where she later met and married William J. Higgins. His military service took the couple to Chicago until 1945. At the end of the war, they returned to the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood and began their family.
The Higgins family always vacationed at the Paradise Beach Hotel on the Florida end of the Highway 98 Lillian Bridge until purchasing property in Perdido Beach in 1955. From that time until her husband’s retirement in 1979, the family spent summers in Perdido.
Since 1979, she has been a full-time resident of Perdido Beach. Friends of the family remember the weekend long galas at the Higgins Perdido home featuring endless skiing and boating, dozens of family friends (and their friends), and a wonderful evening meal as the sun went down.
In the middle of this organized chaos she ran the kitchen, took ski rides, caught some sun, and sipped on a favorite beverage, either a Grasshopper or a Southern Comfort Old Fashioned.
Her house was always the place people felt comfortable just dropping in anytime for a good time. She always felt it her duty to be sure everyone felt welcome and had a good time.
In her later years, she remained an avid reader of mysteries, looked forward to her Foley Women's Swimming Group activities, and was a supporter of her church, St. Bartholomews in Elberta, and several local charities. Thus, the family asks her friends to consider a donation to one of her favorite local establishments, the Foley Public Library.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William J. Higgins Jr.
Survivors include two sons, William J. and Michael E.; daughter, Maureen E. Higgins; sister, Rose Cygan; seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Visitation begins at 11 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at noon Saturday, Dec. 27 at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, Elberta. Interment will follow at Prince Of Peace Cemetery.
Arrangements are by Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Homes & Crematory Inc., Foley.
