SC&RA founding member Higgins died

SC&RA founding member Richard Calvin Higgins of Orchard Park, NY, an executive for 50 years in his family's heavy construction contracting business, Higgins Erectors and Haulers, died December 30 after a short illness. He was 89.

After serving in World War II as a lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps, he rejoined the family business, where he began working when he was 16. He was executive vice president of the company when it became a founding member of SC&RA in 1948. In addition to serving on SC&RA's board of directors, he was a past president of the Construction Industry Employees Association and a board member of the National Erectors Association.

At its peak, the company had offices in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester and Syracuse and provided services in hauling large and irregular industrial and construction items, primarily in the eastern US and Canada. Higgins retired in 1990, and the company closed in 2002.

Surviving are his wife of 65 years, the former Ruth Elizabeth Smith; and two sons, Richard C. Jr. and Robert W. Services were held at the Orchard Park Presbyterian Church, where he was an elder.