Nancy J. Higginbotham

Nancy Jeanne Fuller Higginbotham began her journey on May 3rd, 1945 in St. Vincent’s Hospital, Portland, Oregon born to the her parents Dale and Gladys Fuller. Nancy grew up in Portland with an older sister Verna and younger brother Tom. She learned to play the accordion and was active in the Kelly Cadets and Bethel. She graduated in 1963 from Parkrose High School and attended Beauty School afterward. Nancy met her future husband, Jerrold Jacob “Jake” Higginbotham on a blind date later that year. Jake and Nancy were married on May 9th, 1964 and lived in a small apartment in Willamette, outside of West Linn. In December, Nancy gave birth to the first of three children, Jerrold Dale “Jerry” at Willamette Falls Hospital in Oregon City, where all her children were born. Ronald Lee “Ron” followed in June 1966 and Stacy LeAnn in June 1972. Nancy worked primarily in the home as a wife and mother, raising her children in a loving home in Gladstone. Nancy worked part-time at J.C. Penney at the Oregon City shopping center and took classes in bookkeeping at Clackamas Community College. In 1975, the family moved to Oregon City where she worked as an instructional aid in the school classrooms. Nancy eventually worked as a bookkeeper for Clackamas County and Nationwide Insurance. She also worked in retirement as a baggage checker for TSA at the Redmond Airport. After retirement, Jake and Nancy sold the home in Oregon City and moved to Central Oregon, settling in the Powell Butte area. There the couple built their dream home with a panoramic view of the Sisters mountain range and Cascades off their back deck. They attempted to live the “snow bird” lifestyle with their motorhome during the winters near Yuma, AZ until allergies became unbearable. The distance from children and four granddaughters proved to be too much however and the couple moved back to “the valley” outside of Aurora. Nancy enjoyed many activities. She loved to garden, sew, creating stained glass artwork, cooking and baking and teaching her granddaughters to do the same. She loved to travel and enjoyed the outdoors, going camping, hunting, fishing and crabbing. She attended as many of her granddaughters’ soccer, softball, basketball and volleyball games and performances as she could take in. She always wanted them to know that she loved and supported them in whatever activities they were involved in. Nancy was also active in her spiritual life and attended the local Church of Christ wherever they lived. Nancy was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, aunt and mother in law. She leaves behind Jake, her husband of 52 years, and their three children, Jerry, Ron and Stacy. She also leaves four granddaughters, Kaitlin, Jessie, Grace and Elli as well as daughters in law Nicole and Maija and many nephews and nieces. Nancy was diagnosed with an incurable liver disease and went to be with the Lord in the early hours of February 22 with Jake at her side. She will be missed. Remembrances in Nancy's name may be made to: Disaster Relief Effort, 410 Allied Drive, P.O. Box 111180, Nashville, TN 37222-1180 Phone: 615-833-0888; Toll Free: 1-888-541-2848; FAX: 615-831-7133; Email: [email protected] Web: disasterreliefeffort.org Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, 123 NW Franklin Ave., Bend, OR 97701 541-383-2793 http://www.covo-us.org/ Legacy Hopewell House Hospice 6171 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, Oregon 502-244-7890 Service Information