 Richard Higgins |
Richard E Higgins, 77, a larger-than-life leader of forklift safety rodeos and a retired Ohio Air National Guard colonel, died on 21 February.
"He was always a great guy to be around, and he put a smile on my face every time I saw him," says David Hoover, president of Newark, Ohio-based Forklift Training Systems.
"Dick was a joy to work with and a joy in every way to know," notes Rodger Lamb, sales manager of Forkliftaction.com. "He certainly will be sadly missed by many he touched."
Higgins' 30 April 2011 crash during a bicycle ride with a friend led to a series of serious medical conditions and in-patient rehabilitation services. Higgins never fully regained the military precision and passionate approach he previously exhibited in producing rodeos "to promote safe operation of forklifts" and as chief executive officer of the Higgins Group Inc in Springfield.
Shirley Finney says that Higgins was "very interesting, very intelligent and very proud of himself and his career" and "one of the greatest guys I ever knew". She and Higgins became acquainted initially as students at Hayward Junior High School in Springfield. For eight recent years, Finney was the administrative assistant for the Higgins Group.
As a trainer, Higgins challenged forklift-operator leaders and supervisors about qualifications, proficiency and credibility in production line environments. He demanded that both a leader and an operator be held accountable instantly under a proactive corrective action program for any mishap or rule lapse.
He developed a forklift operator training and skills assessment protocol, or standard operating procedure, for a producer of construction materials, and he conducted forklift training and evaluation programs for the firm.
The native of Ohio was born in Columbus and spent summers and two school years on the farm of his maternal grandparents north-west of Urbana. He recalled at age 11 driving a Farmall tractor down a state highway by himself.
He began basic US Air Force training in 1953 and retired from the guard in 1990 with the rank of colonel. From 1980-1990, he was commander of both the Ohio Air National Guard's 178th fighter wing and the air base. He was an inaugural recipient of the Major General IG Brown command excellence trophy.
After leaving the guard, he developed and conducted leadership training programs for National Management Systems in Dayton, Ohio beginning in 1990; served as sales manager for automotive window regulator supplier Muncy Corp of Enon, Ohio starting in 1992; co-ordinated safety and training for three Ohio facilities of McGregor Bros Holding Co beginning in 1993; provided safety consultant services through Curtis Management Resources of Fairborn, Ohio starting in 1996; and was a business manager for KMH Systems in Dayton starting in 1998.
In June 2000, he established the Higgins Group. He focused on providing forklift operator training, creation of multiple competitive forklift rodeos in US and foreign locations and giving expert-witness testimony about forklift safety.
He was a founding member and the first chairman of the Springfield-Clark County Safety Council in 1994. He was instrumental in 1995 in starting a local forklift rodeo that developed into the widely recognised US Open Forklift Rodeo & Safety Expo, which ran until 2010.
Higgins developed and marketed a 300-page instructional manual regarding forklift rodeo course layouts, possible individual and team events and pre-competition promotion.
Higgins was a member of the Grace Lutheran Church and the Springfield Rotary Club and, in his spare time, enjoyed fly fishing and golf.
Survivors include his wife, DeWandia, and a son, Eric, who lives in Oklahoma.
Details on final arrangements are available at the
www.littletonandrue.com website of Littleton & Rue Funeral Home in Springfield.