Sentiments from around Long Beach continue to pour in after the Tuesday passing of 77-year old John Higginson, a former Rear Admiral in the Navy who made his home in Long Beach for more than 20 years and was – along with his wife Nancy – a pillar of local community service.
Higginson, a former President of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, developed a close relationship with current President and CEO Randy Gordon through their work at the Chamber and as fellow members of Long Beach Rotary.
“When I came to town, John really reached out to me. To say John Higginson was a gentleman would be an understatement,” said Gordon today. “He just took me under his wing and got me really involved in Rotary.”
Gordon also described a man who could always be counted on, and was visible at nearly every community service function.
“There was no ego in John Higginson,” he said. “He got a kick out of life, and of giving back to so many non-profits. He was someone who gave much, much more than he received.”
You can find glowing obituaries of Higginson in this LongBeachcomber.com article and this PressTelegram.com article (both of which cite heavily from a 2008 Signal Hill Tribune column, found here).
Disclosure: lbpost.com publisher Shaun Lumachi is the public policy consultant for the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.