Mildred Svehlak Higgins, devoted wife and mother, died April 28, 2015, at home following a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 83.
Mildred, a retired licensed physical therapist, was born Feb. 12, 1932, in Derby, Conn.
She earned a degree in physical therapy from Boston University, Sargent College in Boston, and continued graduate study at the University Hospital of Oklahoma. She worked in the polio epidemic in 1954 and 1955, before opening the Physical Therapy Department with other physical therapists at the Appalachian Regional Hospital in Beckley, W.V.
Mildred met her future husband, James C. Higgins, an attorney and native of Beckley, there. They were married in St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Derby, Conn., on Sept. 7, 1957.
Mildred was an active parishioner of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, teaching in the CCD Program. She was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America. She also was instrumental in starting the Great Books Program at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School, and was a certified instructor in the program.
After raising 10 children, Mildred returned to physical therapy as the director of the Physical Therapy Program at Mountain State University in Beckley. While acting director of the PTA program, she was instrumental in having the program certified by the American Physical Therapy Association.
She was an avid reader and member of a book club, as well as an enthusiastic gardener, pianist, and bridge and tennis player. Her passions were her husband and family, music, and spending summers at their second home in Aquinnah.
She was a great lady. She will be deeply missed by her husband, family, and friends. Mildred was a registered organ donor to West Virginia Medical School at Morgantown, W.V.
She is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, James C. Higgins; 10 children, Jamie H. Eason, James C. Higgins II, John H. Higgins, Michael P. Higgins, Joseph E. Higgins, Thomas A. Higgins, Mary P. Bell, Vincent L. Higgins, Genevieve H. Cardile, and Katherine H. Nunez; one brother, Henry Svehlak; 17 grandchildren; and 2 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Genevieve Svehlak, and two siblings, John Svehlak and Genevieve Sonia Schenck.
A funeral Mass was held on Saturday, May 2, 2015, at 11 am, celebrated by Msgr. Samuel Sacus. Donations can be made to Saint Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Parish, Beckley, W.V.