Thomas Higgins

Thomas Higgins, 71 of Kirksville passed away after a brief illness, Wednesday (May 31, 2017) at his home.

Born March 8, 1946 in Kirksville, MO, Tom was the son of the late Thomas Patrick and Lavena Fay (Knight) Higgins. On May 29, 1971 Tom was united in marriage to Suzanne Marie Smith.

Tom is survived by his wife, Suzanne; two sons, Harper Higgins of Kirksville and Casey Higgins of Corydon, Iowa; one grandson, Noah Higgins of Kirksville; two brothers, Jim Higgins and wife Barbara of Kirksville, and Bob Higgins and wife Kathy of Ottumwa, Iowa; brother-in-law, Jim Smith of Newport Beach, California; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Tom and Lavena Higgins; his sister, Barbara Lehr; and brother-in-law, George Lehr.
After graduating from Kirksville High School in 1964, Tom attended UMKC until 1966 when he entered the Navy. He served as a hospital corpsman in Da Nang, Vietnam; Bethesda, Maryland and San Diego, California until he received his honorable discharge in 1969. After military service, he managed a Topsy’s Popcorn in Kansas City, where he met his future wife, Suzanne in Kansas City in 1970.

After moving back to Kirksville he was married to Suzanne and he graduated from NMSU, now Truman State, in 1973 with a degree in Social Studies. He worked at Borroughs, later Standard Register from April 1973 to April 2003.

He was a member of Mary Immaculate Catholic Church. He enjoyed spending time with his family, tinkering on his computer, fishing, taking rides and working in his shed. Most of all, he loved spending time with his best friend and grandson, Noah.
He will be greatly missed by his family.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday (June 5, 2017) at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church with Monsignor David Cox presiding. Burial will be in the Mary Immaculate Catholic Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Jim Higgins, Bob Higgins, Harry Hill, Chris Bohon, Stuart Higgins, Tom Vozza, and Danny Higgins.

Visitation with the family will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Sunday at the

Davis-Playle-Hudson-Rimer Funeral Home
2100 E. Shepherd Ave.
Kirksville, MO 63501 660-665-2233

Memorials in memory of Tom are suggested to MDA or American Heart Association.