Lucille Higgins Proffitt

Lucille Proffitt, 99, was born August 27, 1922 in Yancey County, North Carolina and grew up on a farm nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She passed away August 4, 2022 in Corpus Christi, Texas. She and her husband, Charles Y. Proffitt [deceased 1996], had one son, C. Edward Proffitt who they raised in Raleigh and later in Wilson, NC. Ed asserts that they were the best parents ever and are in large measure responsible for instilling in him the personal values and love of dogs, cats, nature, and science that he has today. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents Edd and Mary Jane Higgins, brother Charles Higgins, and sisters (Geneva Rogers, Ruby Morehead, Marjorie Olson, and Elizabeth Barwick). Lucille will be buried alongside her husband in the family cemetery in Burnsville, NC.

Lucille was a vibrant lady who enjoyed traveling, cheering for NC State football and basketball, art, golfing, bridge, rummy, and gardening. She lived a full and exciting life that included: a) working at all tasks required of those living on small farms, b) serving in the Women's Army Corps as a nurse and physical therapist during WWII treating both GIs and POWs, c) touring as a pitcher for the army softball team, d) attending the University of North Carolina, e) being a very active member for many years in the First United Methodist Church of Wilson, NC, f) traveling (Finland, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and Holy Land, etc.) and g) serving on the Arts Council in Wilson, NC. and painting many excellent pictures. She also hosted and mentored two foreign exchange students from Finland and Paraguay.

As in all lives, odd things sometimes happened some of which are memorable. As a teenager she unknowingly served as a part-time nanny for a wealthy family on a big estate that she was surprised to learn later via a newspaper clipping sent by her sister were German spies (WWII). They had been arrested after a milkman making a delivery went into a room that was that was full of short-wave radio equipment. The FBI found that they were sending messages to U-boats off the NC coast. A few months later as Lucille was practicing softball while serving in the Army she struck out Ted Williams who had asked if he could “hit a few” (she didn't know who he was until afterwards).

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law (Donna Devlin, Ph.D.), brother Russell Higgins and wife Amy, sister Frances Milligan, and many nieces and nephews and their families. Risto Suomalainen, M.D., pathologist (the Finnish exchange student) has always been like a member of the family, he brightened her last days when called her and sang happy birthday to her.

She was a great lover of cats and dogs, and her current cat Wendell is being integrated into Ed and Donna’s pet menagerie. In lieu of flowers, donations to https://hurricanepetsrescue.org/ are preferred because Lucille rescued Wendell from Hurricane Harvey when he was a kitten, and viewed that as a high point of her later years.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.FunerariaDelAngelcheyenne.com for the Proffitt family.