Thomas Higgins

HIGGINS, Thomas R., 60, of Brandon, FL passed away on August 12, 2014 at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital Tampa, after a long fight with cancer.

He was preceded in death by his father, Samuel; step father, Vern Ranum; brother, Bob; & brother in law, Mike Cooper. Survivors include his two sons, Thomas Jr. (AnJenelle) & Rodney; mother, Lucille Ranum; two sisters,
Diane Cooper-Jones (Larry) & Brenda Ficken (Michael); two brothers, Rick (Maritza), & Ernie (Lesa); three grandchildren, Laura, Kayla, & Bailey; ex-wife, Kathy; many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Tom was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 15, 1954. He was an entrepreneur from a very young age. Tom looked at everything as a business proposition. Some would say he could sell snow to the Eskimos. At age 8, without his parents knowing, he sent away for Christmas cards to sell door to door. At 10, he started his shoe shinning business, going around to NE Minneapolis bars, churches, corner stores, wherever he could find customers. At 13, he convinced Bill Johnson that his gas station would draw more business if he was there sweeping floor and at 15, he went to work for Mr. Sheffield, owner of Central Auto Body in Minneapolis, MN, where he learned the auto body repair trade. Subsequently, he helped to move the business to Sarasota Florida in 1972 with Mr. Sheffield’s family. Once there he met Kathy Oatley, whom he married on February 17, 1973.

Tom joined the Navy at the age of 18. Stationed in Jacksonville, FL, he was injured on ship and medically discharged before the end of his tour.

In the fall of 1979 Tom broke his back in a motorcycle accident. With a back brace from neck to hips Tom, with Kathy opened and worked side by side building Higgins Custom Auto Body Repair shop, which they owned and operated for 19 years. In 1994 Tom decided to join a fellow friend in a dump truck venture. It didn’t take long for Tom to realize a partnership was not going to work and he created TH Trucking, a land clearing and excavating business. Tom with his son Rodney built and operated TH Trucking till the early 2000’s. Higgins Custom Auto Body was closed a year after his divorce in 1996.

Tom moved to Brandon in 2004 and a year later was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer. It was found when he was eating sunflower seeds. A sunflower seed shell poked a hole in the roof of his mouth exposing the tumor at an early stage. Tom agreed to join a trial for a new type of Chemo. By 2007, he was cancer free and going strong. That new Chemo is now a very widely used and successful treatment for many types of cancer thanks to Tom and all the other people who agreed to be the test subjects.

For the last 10 years, Tom worked with his sister, first in the construction and then with the maintenance of her townhome community in Seffner. Tom touched many lives in this small rental community.

Tom was always thinking of inventions. He was always trying to find ways of creating something to make a task easier or improve the efficiency. He shares this talent with his brother & Father, who invented a way to put dual wheels on passenger pickup trucks, in the early 1970’s, to improve the stability when hauling a camper in the bed.

Friday before Labor Day 2013, Tom was told he had a tumor in his Esophagus. Later tests confirmed Esophageal Cancer. At first there was confidence by the doctors, that it was curable. Tom fought hard, truly believing he beat cancer once he could beat it again. However, that was not God’s plan and in less than a year he lost the battle.

Throughout his life, Tom battled the demons of many addictions. But at the same time Tom was a caring giving man that would help anyone in need. Tom was the person you could count on to stop and help you if you were broke down on the side of the road. He would give the shirt off his back to a complete stranger. At the same time he would be hard on his own boys, not giving them anything they didn’t earn. He felt the only way they could be successful, strong, and appreciative is if they knew what is was to work hard for what they got.

May we all fine comfort believing: God has a plan, everything happens for his reasons and in his time not ours.

May God grant us The serenity to accept the things we cannot change
The courage to change the things we can, and
The wisdom to know the difference

Services with military honors will be presented at 11AM on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014 at Sarasota National Cemetery.

Please sign the guestbook below.

Veterans Funeral Care
1-800-467-7850