Carl W. Higgins

Carl W Higgins of Eau Claire, died on Sunday, January 17, 2016, at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls with family by his side. Carl was born January 6, 1923, at Bethesda hospital in St. Paul, MN, to John and Nannie (Swanson) Higgins. He attended both North Branch and Cambridge High School, graduating in 1941. He enlisted in the Army Air Corp in 1943, eventually serving as an airplane mechanic. Carl was stationed in numerous places in Europe during the war including France and Sardinia. He attended Minneapolis Business College in 1945. Carl met Lorraine Benson while attending high school in North Branch, MN, and the two were married on October 26, 1946, shortly after Carl’s discharge from the military. While working as a bookkeeper for a travel agency in Fargo, ND, Carl started thinking about the idea of opening his own travel agency. In 1953, Carl moved his young family to Eau Claire and opened the area’s first travel agency. The first location for Higgins Travel Service was on the mezzanine of the Hotel Eau Claire on Barstow Street. As a registered nurse, Lorraine worked evenings in Eau Claire area hospitals so that she could be home with her young children during the day- a big help to Carl as he worked to establish his new business. Carl grew up during the depression in the small farming town of Spring Lake, MN. His father owned and operated a country store that served as the center of the small, Swedish community. As a boy, Carl enjoyed watching the regular customers and neighbors come and go as well as the salesmen who would frequent the store. He even learned to speak Swedish here as many of the regulars preferred Swedish to English. Highlights for young Carl were the weekly trips to St. Paul with his Dad in the mid 1930’s in their 1927 Chevy truck. They would exchange eggs from the local farmers for goods to fill the store shelves. This barter system worked quite efficiently for many years. Carl had a life-long passion for small passenger aircraft. His love of small planes began in 1935, when he was 12 years old and his Aunt Millie gave him 75 cents so he could go up in small plane for the first time at Wold-Chamberlain Field (now the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport). He received his private pilot’s license in the ‘60’s and he loved attending the EAA convention in Oshkosh whenever he could. Carl owned and operated Higgins Travel Service during the Golden Age of Travel. He started his business in the 1950’s when traveling to Europe was still done primarily by steamship, with a trip to Europe generally taking six to eight weeks. The jet age arrived in the early ‘60’s and changed how people traveled for both business and pleasure- growing his business. Carl and Lorraine hosted and escorted dozens of local groups to Europe, the Orient, Alaska, and Hawaii, among other destinations. Carl traveled to Europe more than fifty times during his tenure in the travel business. He loved to travel and to share the experience with his customers- many of whom became his friends. After he retired and his son, Joel, took over running the business Carl continued to ask almost daily, “How are things at the office?” Carl loved the travel business and was very proud of all the wonderful staff that he worked with for so many years. He was always interested in hearing about present and past employees and what was happening in their lives. Carl served on dozens of local boards and committees during his many years in Eau Claire. Several included: serving as the District Commissioner for the Boy Scouts, being a member of the Eau Claire Noon Kiwanis Club for 63 years, President of the first Business Improvement District in the State of WI, Member of Sanctuary Lodge 347 & Scottish Rite. Carl also loved volunteering at the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp and especially enjoyed the field trips from the local 4th graders. He and Lorraine were faithful members of Trinity Lutheran Church since 1960. Carl and Lorraine were able to spend the winter months in Peoria, AZ, from 1987 to 2010 and they made many good friends who they enjoyed seeing each year. In later years, Carl and Lorraine moved to Heatherwood Assisted Living in Eau Claire. They enjoyed their time there and many of the staff and residents became dear friends. Carl often remarked how fortunate he felt to have lived and operated a business in the Eau Claire area for so many years. “Eau Claire was a wonderful place to raise a family and run a business.” He did a good job of both. Carl is survived by his children, Thomas (Julie Wissinger) Higgins of Marine on St. Croix, MN, Joan (Carl Herrmann) Higgins of Black River Falls, WI, and Joel (Lenore) Higgins of Eau Claire; grandchildren, Allison and Jessica Higgins, and Jessica’s fiancé Ryan Heck, all of Minneapolis, MN; sisters-in-law, Arlene Higgins, Roseville, MN, Marjorie (Everett) Dryden of Cedar Rapids, and Naurine McCormick of Eugene, OR, and many dear nieces and nephews. Visitation will be Friday, January 22, 2016, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Lenmark-Gomsrud-Linn Funeral Home, 814 First Ave., Eau Claire. Funeral Services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 23, 2016, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1314 E. Lexington Blvd., Eau Claire with Pastor Jim Page Officiating. There will be a visitation one hour prior to the service at church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Trinity Lutheran Church Food Bank, or the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp. To express condolences online, please visit obituaries at www.lenmarkfh.com

Service Information

Cemetery

Lakeview Cemetery
1500 Buffington Drive
Eau Claire WI 54703

Visitation

Friday, January 22 2016
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Lenmark-Gomsrud-Linn Funeral & Cremation Services
814 First Avenue
Eau Claire WI 54703

Visitation

Saturday, January 23 2016
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Trinity Lutheran Church
1314 E. Lexington Blvd.
Eau Claire WI 54701

Memorial Service

Saturday, January 23 2016
11:00 AM

Trinity Lutheran Church
1314 E. Lexington Blvd.
Eau Claire WI 54701