GREIG, NY – Shirley Blade Higby, 92, of Greig Road, passed away Wednesday, April 24, 2019, at Lewis County Residential Healthcare Facility where she resided since Dec. 20, 2018.
Born Dec. 3, 1926, a daughter of Gifford and Arlene Blade, she attended Lowville and Carthage schools, graduating from Carthage High School in June 1944.
Shirley married Dean Alfred Higby on June 30, 1944, near Pine Camp (now Fort Drum).
In 1952 Shirley and Dean purchased the Jordan potato farm on the Greig Road, where they raised their family and Shirley lived there for over 67 years before residing in the Lewis County Extended Care Facility.
Both Shirley and Dean were Bus Drivers for Glenfield and the South Lewis Schools System for many, many years. Prior to bus driving, Shirley worked at Beaverite in Glenfield. She was also tax collector for the Town of Greig for many years. She was an avid bowler in her younger years.
Dean and Shirley purchased a camp on Stony Lake in 1964, enjoying their camp for 45 years. Stony Lake was the connection to the Gaebel Family who also had a camp on the lake, with the Gaebel/Thesier clan. Sterling and Margaret Rose (Thesier) Gaebel became mother and father-in-laws to Lyndon and Burt, who married the Gaebel girls, through the “Lake Connection”.
She is survived by her daughter Judy (Phillip) DeLong and Lyndon (Mary Ann Gaebel) Higby, and daughter-in-Law, Linda (Gaebel) Higby, wife of Burton B. Higby; eight grandchildren; many many great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her husband Dean Alfred Higby, Feb 21, 2009, a son Burton B. Higby August 15, 2006, her mother and father Arlene and Gifford Blade, and sisters Yvonne Powlin and Phyllis Garnsey.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Glenfield Fire Dept, and the Glendale Cemetery Fund.
Calling hours will be from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday, April 27, 2019, at Iseneker Funeral Home, 5702 Waters Road, Lowville, with the funeral service at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 27, 2019, at the funeral home with Rev. James Jenkins officiating, followed by burial in Old Glendale Cemetery. After services, a gathering will follow at the Calvary Bilble Church fellowship hall.
Condolences may be made online at www.isenekerfuneralhome.com.
