James Lee Higginbotham of Plano, Texas passed away on April 27, 2019 at the age of 79. He was born on February 24, 1940 to James Leonard and Eunice (King) Higginbotham in Dallas, Texas. He grew up in Oak Cliff where he spent his youth throwing a newspaper route near the Dallas Zoo, swimming in the Trinity River and Lake Cliff Park pool, and having as many adventures outside as possible. He graduated from Adamson High School in Oak Cliff, where he played football, ran track, swam competitively and was on the ROTC Rifle Team. James proudly served his country in the United States Air Force. He married his high school sweetheart Sara Wilbanks in 1957.
The first in his family to graduate from college, he earned a BS in Physics with Honors from the University of Texas at Arlington, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Theta Honor Society and Epsilon Nu Theta Engineering Honor Society. After graduation, he worked as an engineer for seven years in the Dallas aerospace and electronics industry at Ling Temco Vought and Texas Instruments before devoting over 33 years working for the Department of Defense as an engineer and senior manager for Defense Contract Management Command. He specialized in slashing red tape and saved taxpayers millions of dollars over his career. He also taught college level physics and mathematics for over 10 years in Dallas County Community Colleges.
James was devoted to his family, his neighbors and his community. He was instrumental in implementing flood control measures with the installation of gabion walls along the creek in his neighborhood in the 1980’s and served on the Caddo Park Neighborhood Planning Project. He worked tirelessly to implement property tax freezes in Plano for elderly residents and advocated for the addition of a sidewalk along Independence Parkway for students walking home. He was generous with both his time and his resources, once giving away his car to an elderly friend that he made at the farmer’s market.
He loved a good hamburger, barbecue, classic cars, classic rock-and-roll, desserts of all kinds, chocolate with cold milk, everything Sara cooked, and all things Texas. He was a devoted son, husband, and father, and a mentor to his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, students, friends and neighbors. He was the master of helping his kids with science fair projects, teaching them to ride bikes and later to drive. Despite working two jobs for many years, he made worrying about his children another full-time job. He was a human GPS and loved to draw colorful, detailed maps for any family member traveling anywhere. He was the quintessential do-it-yourselfer around the house. He had a wicked sense of humor and loved delighting family and friends with magic tricks. He loved to make rules, but never met a rule that applied to him. His motto in life was “Live simply, so that others may simply live,” and he did, always putting others first.
James is survived by his loving wife of over 61 years, Sara Higginbotham of Plano, Texas; son, James Lynn Higginbotham of Plano, Texas; daughters, Dena Freeman of Allen, Texas, Beth Dewese (Andy) of Plano, Texas and Laurie Higginbotham (Jamal Alsaffar) of Austin, Texas; six grandchildren, Mark Jr., Matthew, Jason, Jack, Luke, and Isabella; and three great grandchildren, Hannah, Mark III and Lizzy; brother, Jerald Higginbotham of Florida; sister, Elsie Smallback of California; and numerous other loving family and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, May 3, 2019 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas. Interment will follow at Laurel Land Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.