Supercentenarian Profile

Bessie Higgins

Born:

1902-12-23

Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

United States

Died:

2013-07-07

Cabot, Pennsylvania

United States

Bessie Higgins (née Brown) was an American supercentenarian.

BIOGRAPHY

Bessie Higgins was born in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, USA, on 23 December 1902. She was the daughter of David Alonzo Brown and Amanda Stillwagon.

Higgins was a graduate of Concord Township High School and Butler Business School, where she later taught, and she earned her bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University. Over the course of her career, she taught in a variety of settings, ranging from a one-room schoolhouse in Concord Township to the Zelienople Children’s Home. She ultimately retired from Butler Area School District as a special education teacher.

Higgins was a devoted member of First English Lutheran Church for more than 60 years. She was also an active member of the Unionville Grange and the Butler Women’s Club.

Around 1933, she married Frank D. Higgins. They were married for 52 years, until his passing in January 1985. They had three children: Marilyn Davis, Rodney Higgins, and Suzanne Burns (died in April 1999).

Bessie Higgins passed away in Cabot, Pennsylvania, on 7 July 2013, at the age of 110 years, 196 days. She was survived by two of her children, as well as seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.