Wilma B. Higgins

Wilma Beth (Higley) Higgins, age 91, died on August 26, 2018 at Hanover Terrace in Hanover, NH. She was born October 18, 1926 in Guilford, Vermont, youngest daughter of William Elliot Higley and Bessie Elida (Davis) Higley.
She was predeceased by her parents, her brothers Harry Mervin Higley and Herbert William Higley, her half-brother George E. Higley, her half-sisters Lucy Isabel Higley and Evelyn Mary (Higley) Clark and two children, John Kenneth Higgins at age 4 years and Patsy Jeanne Higgins at age 4 months.
She is survived by her son Andrew William Higgins and his wife Anna (Lerch) Higgins and daughter Fallon Dana Higgins of Gainesville, Virginia; and her daughter Wendy L. (Higgins) Aarnio and her husband Frey A. Aarnio of North Pomfret, Vermont.
She attended the Higley School in Guilford, graduating in 1940 and Brattleboro High School, graduating in the Class of 1944. She worked for Judge Edward J. Shea from 1944 to 1945, Vermont Peoples National Bank 1946-1948 and again at Vermont National Bank from 1956-1990. She began her career there in the bookkeeping department and moved to positions of Stenographer, Customer Service Representative, Executive Secretary and retired as Administrative Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of Vermont Financial Services Corporation in 1990.
She was married to Kenneth S. Higgins on October 26, 1948 in Hinsdale, NH, where she lived until the marriage ended in divorce on 1963. She then moved her family to her hometown of Guilford.
She was very active in community and business organizations : Charter member, Treasurer and President of the Guilford Historical Society; Editor of The Slate, a publication of the Guilford Historical Society; Treasurer, Guilford Community Education; President, Guilford Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary; Vice President, Buck Hill Television; Treasurer, Christ Church Guilford Society, Inc.; Clerk, Guilford Community Church; President, Windham Division, American Heart Association, Vermont Affiliate; Treasurer, Vermont National Bank HELP (Healthier Lifestyle Program); Organizer and President of New/Mont Chapter, American Institute of Banking and TOFA/NEAIB (The Official Family Association, New England American Institute of Banking); Brattleboro Winter Carnival Committee, BHS/BUHS Alumnae Association; member of RSVP; volunteer at the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Coffee Shop and Volunteer at the Windham County Red Cross blood drawings.
She was awarded Life membership in the Guilford Historical Society; Broad Brook Grange Guilford Community Citizen of the Year in March 1988; Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont, Inc. Neighbor Helping Neighbor Award in May 1999.
Pastimes and special skills include gardening, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, quilting, and making baked beans and chili.
She attended Guilford Community church in Guilford.
A memorial service will be held at the Guilford Community Church at 10am on Saturday, September 22, 2018 followed by a committal service at Christ Church Cemetery, Guilford. There will be no calling hours. A reception will follow at the Guilford Community Church.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Guilford Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary or the Guilford Historical Society.
Phaneuf Funeral Homes and Crematorium is assisting the family with arrangements. To view an online memorial, leave a message of condolence, or for more information please go to www.phaneuf.net