Jeffery Mark Higgins

Jeffery Higgins June 29th 1959 – April 8th, 2022 A Tribute to a Life Well Lived Personal: Dr. Jeff Higgins passed away unexpectedly this past Friday evening. He was first and foremost a beloved family man. Jeff was the third son of the late Harold (Bunk) and Mary Louise Higgins. Jeff was survived by his wife of ten years, Stacy Higgins. Children, Halle and Carter Ridgeway. Brothers Dan (Jo Ellen) Higgins and Ernie (Claire) Higgins. Jeff also leaves behind his best buddy Chaco, the families fun loving Chocolate Lab, who loved to always be at Jeff’s side. Jeff’s role as a father is something he will long be defined for as he took this role very seriously and truly enjoyed being involved in his children’s lives, spending countless hours with them in the outdoors and going on great adventures. Jeff’s wife, Stacy, has played an instrumental role in Jeff’s life and career. She has always been the glue that has kept him grounded. Jeff was a member of Centre First United Methodist Church where he served on the trustees committee and led a couples’ small group class. Jeff’s close personal friendships and relationships are too numerous to count, but his tight network of friends extended from coast to coast. Jeff always valued close connections with his friends as a top priority in his life. Professional: Dr. Jeff Higgins was a passionate scientist and business leader who loved people, golf and the outdoors. Professionally, although he wore many hats, he was foremost an educator who helped generations of golf course superintendents and other professional turfgrass managers succeed through science and good management practices. For 35 years, Dr. Higgins was an industry leader in developing and marketing fertilizer and plant health technologies for golf courses, sports fields and other professional turfgrass uses. For the past decade, he spearheaded business development for two major distributors. While at Harell’s LLC he served as Vice President and directed their National Accounts partnerships and helped direct strategy. While at Simplot Turf and Horticulture Jeff created and led a team of over 60 employees. He oversaw their growth and expansion into the Southeast and beyond. Jeff’s success can be directly attributed to his fondness of people and his ability to form tight connections and relationships. Customers will remember him as a brilliant scientist who was a trusted advisor and wonderful communicator regarding the complex world of agronomy. Throughout his career, Dr. Higgins was most closely involved in the specialty fertilizer business where he served for a decade as an executive with Pursell Technologies (later Agrium Advanced Technologies). While he was with Pursell and Agrium, he helped lead the development and commercialization of turf nutrition programs using the well-known POLYON fertilizer technology. He became widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading authorities on turfgrass fertilizer technologies. He was best known at that time for helping to create and host an educational tour of the Pursell manufacturing facilities, along with the golf course the company built to showcase their products and technologies. The tour, called The Experience at FarmLinks, educated and entertained several thousand golf superintendents and other customers over the years. Dr. Higgins was a proud Auburn University alumni who earned his bachelor and master degrees in agronomy, pest management and plant protection there in the early 1980s. He went on to earn a PhD in agronomy from Clemson University. He served as an extension turfgrass specialist at Auburn and as an adjunct professor at Kansas State University. Earlier in his career, he held positions with leading companies including Southern Turf Nurseries, Pennington Seed and ValleyCrest Golf Maintenance. He also worked at Monsanto to help develop, commercialize and launch Dimension turf herbicide, a product that is still used and trusted today. He was widely respected within the field of agronomy and was well known in the golf and turf industry. He served on several committees of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and was a member of numerous other groups including the National Golf Course Owners Association, Golf Course Builders Association of America, the International Turfgrass Society, the American Society of Agronomy, the American Society of Horticultural Science, the American Registry of Certified Professional Agronomists, and the American Registry of Certified Professional Weed Scientists. “Jeff has been a solid pillar in my life my entire career and was like a father figure to me and so many others that considered him a mentor. His legacy can’t be overstated and the impact he made on people both personally and professionally will long be remembered.” ~Wes Hart “Jeff was a beloved figure in the industry because he was a friend to all and a wealth of knowledge about the science of growing high-performance turfgrass,” said industry journalist Pat Jones. “He never met a stranger and you could count on him to give you sound advice. He was the best.” In Memoriam: Jeff will be remembered for his extravagant way he loved people. He was overly considerate, giving and selfless. Jeff constantly desired to give and help others. On any given day you could find Jeff bending over backwards to serve his family and friends. There was no selfish ambition in Jeff’s spirit. He would willingly help a friend, or even competitor in the turf industry, as long as it meant he could connect with them. Relationships were the driving factor in his life and dictated his every move. Anyone who ever met Jeff will remember him as the fun-loving, generous, extravagant, flamboyant, selfless, loving man who loved God and who loved people. Service Details: Jeff’s service will be held in his hometown of Centre, Alabama. For those that are able and capable of attending please know this will be a celebration of life. Jeff expressed many times that the reflection of his life will be on full display during this celebration. It is the request of the family to please come, not in your Sunday’s Best, but rather in your brightest colors and loudest attire that would best symbolize the way Jeff lived. Celebration of Life: Friday April 15, 2022 Family will receive guests from 10:00am-2:00pm Service to follow beginning at 2:00pm Location: First United Methodist Church; Edge Building 341 West Main Street, Centre, Al. 35960 Please consider a monetary donation to the following entity. Monies raised will be used to assist in the costs of students who will be studying the field of Agronomy. The Jeff Higgins Turfgrass Memorial Foundation PO Box 682 Centre, Al. 35960

Jeffery Mark Higgins

June 29, 1959 - April 8, 2022