Forrest C. Higgins, Sr., age 93, died peacefully in the early morning
on Friday, Dec. 30, 2005 at Mary Morse Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
in Natick. Born May 1, 1912, in Moose River Gold Mines, Nova
Scotia, Canada, he was the second son of Harvey Higgins and Annie
Frances Blair.

He grew up in Concord, MA and graduated from Springfield College and
Bangor Theological Seminary. In 1940, he married his beloved wife,
Kathleen Lucille Reid, who survives him. During high school and college he
worked with his father, a miner and carpenter, on the construction of
houses in West Concord, MA and in the mines in Moose River. After the
disastrous cave-in of the mine in Moose River, he worked summers as a park
ranger at the cave-in memorial. An avid outdoorsman, he kept his Nova
Scotia guide’s license active into his 80s. After seminary, he was
ordained in the Congregational Church and was minister in churches in
Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, with his most recent parishes in
Claremont, NH and Hopkinton, MA. He was Chairman of the board and
Executive Director of The Boston Seaman’s Friend Society for many years
until his retirement. Almost 50 years ago he founded Higgins Family
Christmas Trees, a business which he passed on to the younger generations
of Higginses. He also passed on to his children his love of the lakes and
woods, working a big garden, his delight in a fresh ear of corn (have the
water boiling before you pick it!), cooking, and the construction of
a well-turned phrase. In 2002 he published A History of Moose River
Gold Mines, describing the village where he was born when it was a
booming gold mining town.

He was predeceased by his parents and his older brother, Raymond.
Surviving are his wife, Kathleen, his four children, Susan (Theodore)
Dushane of Ann Arbor, MI; Sally (Gerard) Bergeron of Holliston MA;
Forrest Jr. (Kathy) of Elmsvale, Nova Scotia; and Sandra (William)
Ghelli of Lancaster, NH; his grandchildren, Michael and Andrew
Dushane; Julie and Jill Bergeron, Cleve, Elizabeth, and Frank
Higgins; and Thomas, Timothy, Kathleen, and Nathan Ghelli.

A funeral service will take place in the First Congregational Chuch of
Holliston on Monday January 2, 2006 at 10 am with Rev. Andrea Wyatt.
Burail will follow in the Lake Grove Cemeteray of Holliston. Arrangements
are by the Chesmore Funeral Home in Holliston. Donations may be made to
the First Congreagtional Church, 725 Washington St., Holliston, MA 01746