Frances K. Higginbotham

Frances K. Higginbotham

September 23, 1922 - March 21, 2021

Frances Higginbotham went home to God on Sunday, March 21, 2021, after living an exemplary Christian life for over 98 years. Known by many as “Fran” and called Skippy, Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma (GG), or Aunt by the privileged, she was always kind, caring, and thoughtful.

Frances was born (1922) and raised in Russell, KY, and graduated from Bethesda School of Nursing in Cincinnati, OH in 1944. She served as a Public Health Nurse there until the end of WWII and married James (Jim) Higginbotham, Jr. when he returned from his service in the US Army. They moved to Columbus, OH, where Frances worked at OSU hospital - even through the polio epidemic - while Jim was in school. By 1953, she was able to take a break from nursing to be a full-time mom for her children and an “always-on-duty” mom/nurse-consultant to her neighbors and friends. And, of course, Fran was the room-mother extraordinaire for every classroom that needed one and volunteered to administer polio vaccine shots to children at the neighborhood school.

In 1965, she returned to nursing full-time at Borgess Hospital, serving as head nurse for the neurology unit, when the family moved to Kalamazoo, MI, for her husband’s job. And finally, a decade later when Jim was transferred to Detroit, Fran worked as head nurse of the CCU at the new William Beaumont Hospital in Troy, MI. Always, even when working as a nurse, her children and family remained the major focus of her life. Upon retirement in 1988, Fran and Jim moved to Albuquerque, NM, where daughters, Kathy and Jacqui and their families live. There, Fran went back to work when she was 75, at FISIF, maintaining medical files and serving as a medical reference source until her final retirement at the age of 86.

Throughout her long life, Frances held God in her heart as her source of guidance and strength. Fran and Jim became valued and involved members of Mountainside Church of Christ upon arrival in Albuquerque, giving much of their time to helping others. Her faith and her love of family made her content to the end. She inspired some and was a shining example of service to others with kindness and love to many. She will be lovingly remembered by all.

Frances is survived by her four children and their spouses - Kathy Diaz and husband Miguel (Albuquerque), Bonnie Fraser and husband Kirk (Nicholasville, KY), Jim Higginbotham III and wife Janice (Brunswick, ME), Jacqui Cross and husband Charles (Albuquerque) - and nine grandchildren who gave her ten great-grandchildren.