John J. Higgins Jr.

John Joseph Higgins, Jr., 93, of Homosassa, FL, passed away Thursday, April 9, 2015. He was born Oct. 14, 1921 in Fox Chase, PA and was the son of John and Beatrice Higgins. He was pre-deceased by his parents and his three sisters, Grace, Beatrice and Flori, as well as his beloved wife Evelyn after almost 69 years of marriage. John retired from the military after 24 years in the U.S.A.F. During this time he was hand-picked by General Eisenhower to be a flight engineer aboard the General’s plane following World War II. Eisenhower then brought his war flight crew to the Whitehouse with him and John was the Chief Flight Engineer and flew for President Eisenhower, President Kennedy and President Johnson. He was the last living survivor of the original Air Force I crew. After John retired from the Air Force on August 1, 1967, he flew for Boeing Aircraft of Seattle, WA, and Lockheed Aircraft in Palmdale, CA as flight engineer. Following that he flew as Executive Pilot for I.T.T. and retired after 15 years. Speaking to schools and fraternal organizations, he had many stories to share about flying presidential planes and helicopters and some of his interesting experiences with many dignitaries. John and Evelyn and sons lived in Paris and many American states, including CA, CT, WA DC, AZ, PA, and finally settling in Homosassa, FL for the past 19 years. John is survived by his sons John “Jack” Joseph Higgins, III of Inwood, W. VA and Ronald Charles Higgins (wife Marilyn) of Clearwater Beach, FL; his grandchildren Adam Higgins (wife Michelle) of Chesapeake, VA; Alyson Mangum of Bellevue, WA; CJ Higgins (wife Paige) and Kayla Delgado (husband Tony) of W. VA.; and great grandchildren Molly, Christopher, Noah, Bailey, Gabrielle, Isreal "Izzy", Hailey and Kaleb. A memorial service will be held on Fri., June 19, 2015 at 11:00 A.M. at Wilder Funeral Home, Homosassa, Florida, with Pastor William Bremner officiating. Military honors will follow at Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Florida at 1:00 P.M. Wilder Funeral Home, Homosassa. www.wilderfuneral.com