Bruce William Higbie

Bruce William Higbie, 72, of Jefferson, GA passed away shortly after 7:00AM Saturday, February 29th, in the comfort of his home, surrounded by family, and holding the hand of his wife of 42 years, Carol Higbie (née Black) after a brief illness.

Bruce was born on March 25th, 1947 at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, NY to Clarence “Kirby” Higbie and Virginia “Ginny” Higbie (née Johnson), both of whom preceded him in death. The first of four children, he leaves behind younger sister Pamela “Pam” (and husband Douglas “Skip”) Cook of Blue Ridge, GA; brother Gary (and wife Patricia “Perri”) Higbie of Brookhaven, GA; and sister Candace “Candy” (and husband Joseph “Joe”) Cooper of Jefferson, GA.

Bruce spent more than 40 years in service to his country: three years in the US Army, including a year in Vietnam, and also worked for the U.S. Civil Service Commission, Internal Revenue Service, Housing and Urban Development, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and Federal Highway Administration, from which he retired as Personnel Officer for the Southeast Region in 2003. Because of his knowledge and expertise of Federal staffing principles, he was often called upon to train new personnel staffing and evaluation specialists. Shortly before his retirement, he was awarded the Superior Career Service Award from the Department of Transportation.

Bruce was a lifelong sports fan and enjoyed both playing and watching. Although he moved from Cleveland, Ohio, as a child, he always maintained his love for the Indians and the Browns. Once he moved to Atlanta, he quickly adopted the Braves, Falcons, Hawks and GT Yellow Jackets as his home teams. An alumnus of Georgia State University, he was thrilled when they fielded a football team and he attended their first-ever football game. Bruce was also a 1965 graduate of Sandy Springs High School in Atlanta.

Bruce is survived by his wife, Carol, and his four children: Chris (and Laura) Higbie of Clarkesville, GA; Regina (and Scott) Gaffney of Buford, GA; Zachary Higbie of Cincinnati, OH; and Samantha (and Chris) Shanku of Kansas City, MO. He is also survived by the joys of his life, his grandchildren: Christopher, Eli and Addie Higbie, and Noah, Lucas and Grace Gaffney.

Services will be held at 2:00PM on Saturday, March 7th, at The Vine Church, located at 1897 GA Hwy 211, Hoschton, GA 30548, led by Rev. David Walters. A Celebration of Life will follow immediately after, beginning between 3:00-3:30PM, at The Traditions of Braselton Clubhouse, located at 1665 Traditions Way, Jefferson, GA 30549.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his name are requested for iServe Ministries (https://www.iserveministries.org) of which Bruce was an active volunteer and financial supporter, or PanCan (https://www.pancan.org), in hopes that research funding prevents another family from going through the pain of sudden loss associated with pancreatic cancer.