Kathleen Elizabeth Adams Higgs was born September 22, 1930, to Lillie and Louis Adams in Madison, Kansas. She died on April 5, 2022, in Evansville, Indiana at 91 years of age. Her belief in God, and the power of love, and the importance of a good quilting pattern, were her guiding lights throughout her life. She devoted her life to caring for others—in her family, and in her community. Those of us who were the recipients of her generous love will miss her to the end of our own days. Those of us who sleep under her handmade quilts will remain close to her.
She was Lillie's third child and first daughter. She had two older brothers, Clarence Dettweiler and Billy Dettweiler, and ten younger siblings: Louis "Bud" Adams, Thomas "Tommy" Adams, Richard Adams, Harriett Adams, Joann Adams, Margaret Adams, Christine Adams, Doll "Nippie" Davis, George Davis, and Carol Davis. As the eldest daughter with ten younger siblings, she was often called upon to be an assistant mother to the younger ones. She is survived by her sisters Doll Davis Robbins and Carol Davis Lane.
On June 11, 1947, Kathleen married Vernon Mack Higgs. Vernon preceded her in death on October 25, 1978. For the next 44 years, until her own passing, he was the love of her life. They raised five children: Danny Mack Higgs, Richard Louis Higgs, Lillie Elaine Higgs Sgorcea, Michael Earl Higgs, and Timothy Merle Higgs. Her eldest son, Danny, preceded her in death on May 8, 2021.
She was the proud grandmother of Danny Higgs, Jr., Shannon Higgs, Heather Higgs, Dion Longworth, Emily Longworth Voss, Brookley Longworth Barron, and James Aaron Higgs. They bore her sixteen great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at the Heber Springs Funeral Home, 1199 Wilburn Road, Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Friday, April 8, 2022. The family will receive visitors beginning at 12:00pm. She will join her husband, Vernon, at 2:00pm at Magness Cemetery, 3199 Wilburn Road, Heber Springs.