Catherine Higgins

Catherine Rosemary Higgins nee Cull, age 96 of Shaker Heights, OH. She was the loving wife of the late Edward Q. Higgins. She was the dear mother of Mary Catherine Higgins Shapiro Solomon of Grifton, North Carolina and the late Edward Q. Higgins, Jr. She was a dear grandmother to Natalie Ann Higgins of Maple Heights, Ohio and mother-in-law of Mary Benek-Higgins, of Maple Heights. The family prefers that those who wish may make contributions in her name to The Church of St. Dominic, 3450 Norwood Rd, Shaker Hts., OH 44122, where Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, October 15 at 10am. _ My mother, Catherine Rosemary Cull Higgins was born on May 28, 1914, to Margaret McMeyler and Dan B. Cull. She was the third of seven children in this large Irish Catholic family. They nicknamed her ÒKay-KayÓ as child and it never changed. To the rest of the world, she was Kay. Kay had two sisters, Margaret and Rita, and four brothers, Dan, John, Bill, and Paul. Margaret, the eldest child, was born with Cerebral Palsy, and although everyone in the family helped with the physical assistance she needed, sisters Kay and Rita probably spent the most time helping her through each dayÕs routine of school, play, and growing up. All of the siblings were bright and full of mischief. Mom always said that Margaret was Óthe instigator,Ò the ÒbrainsÓ behind the mischief that the rest of them put into action. The family lived on the east side of Cleveland in a big house on Nottingham Road which was walking distance to the lake, and Villa Angela, then a Catholic girlÕs school run by the Ursuline nuns. At that time, Villa Angela was a boarding and day school for 1st through 12th grades. Their mother had gone there as a boarder, and Margaret, Kay and Rita went to the day school. Their father was a lawyer, who during his career spent time as a municipal court judge, and other public service work in addition to private practice. He was remarkably forward thinking when it came to his daughters. He wanted them educated and although he knew that he would need to provide support for his physically handicapped daughter Margaret, he wanted Kay and Rita to have professions. He wanted them to be able to take care of themselves, regardless of their marital status. Kay chose to become a dietician, and she earned her undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University, then Western Reserve in the mid 1930s. Between 1935 and 1947, she not only worked as a dietician in various hospitals, institutional and commercial areas, but she also earned a Master Degree in Public Health Nutrition from Case Western Reserve. She had been engaged to marry a serviceman through the duration of World War II, but at the end of the war, this did not work out. She was in her early 30s by this time, and convinced that she would be a single career woman, she went back to school to become a social worker. Her experience in dietetics had shown her that dealing well with people and their problems was an essential prerequisite to running a successful kitchen. After she earned her second Masters Degree in ÒSocial AdministrationÓ from Case WesternÕs School of Applied Social Science in 1949, she worked as a Social Worker for an agency then known as Family Service. She met my father at some point in 1950 or 1951, and neither ever agreed on where they met. At ÒCull houseÒ there were many parties. The brothers had all returned home from their various war-time activities and were going to college on the GI bill, and there was a great deal of activity. In any event, Mom met Edward Q. Higgins, ÒWard.Ó He had recently finished his degree in Architecture at Case Western, and his brother Greg was a great friend of MomÕs youngest brother Paul. Dad said that he met mom at a Cull house party while she fixing food in the kitchen, and Mom said she met Dad with a group playing golf. Regardless, they were married on June 27, 1953. They were always a couple of lovebirds, and as my brother and I grew older we realized what a rare and beautiful romance they had. They had two children, my brother and myself. Mom stayed home with us until I was 12, when she took a part-time job teaching nutrition to home health aides. She continued to do this kind of work on and off until about 1974 when she began teaching Nutrition to Licensed Practical Nursing students at the Jane Addams Vocational School, part of the Cleveland Public School system. She worked there 10 years until she was 70 years old, the then mandatory retirement age. I do not suppose that any description can do justice to Mom. She was an incredibly loving, passionate, intelligent woman who was not easily fooled by anyone. She remained a devout Catholic, rarely missing daily mass at St. Dominic Church since I was in the third grade. She was funny, only privately irreverent, always ready to laugh, and always a lady. Until she suffered a severe stroke in January 2000, she read the latest nutrition research and financial newsletters and magazines, always interested in learning. In the year before her stroke, she finally was blessed with a grandchild, Natalie Ann, my brotherÕs daughter. Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th anniversary on June 27, 2003. By then, Mom needed more care than Dad could manage himself and the celebration was held at Anna Maria of Aurora. We will never be able to thank the caregivers at Anna Maria enough for the love and care they gave Mom in her last years. -- Mary Catherine Higgins Shapiro


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