Higdon, 25, died May 22 in Taji, Iraq, when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. He was sent to Iraq in early April, and this was his second tour to Iraq.
Higdon married his wife, MaKayne Willis of Temple, on April 18, 2002, and his family noted how much Higdon loved her.
“I know he was crazy about her,” Ollie Little of Midland, Higdon’s father, said.
Higdon and his wife met while he was stationed at Fort Hood.
“(He was) everything you want your child to be,” said Rhonda Higdon of Odessa, Higdon’s mother. “It’s one of those things that you say, ‘Why?’”
Higdon expressed an early interest in the military, working his passion from the skies to the ground.
“Since he was 4 years old, he wanted to fly airplanes,” Mrs. Higdon said. “He loved it.”
And Higdon received an early dose of flying from a family friend who owned a private airplane. Mrs. Higdon recalled the many times Higdon was taken on rides in the sky.
During his time at Permian High School, Higdon was active in the Junior ROTC and played for the high school’s soccer team as a backup goalie. While participating in the JROTC, Higdon received an extra push from Major Parrott, a ROTC recruiter who had been an airborne ranger in Vietnam. Parrott told Higdon stories of his adventures, Mrs. Higdon recalled.
“That was like a turning point for him,” Mrs. Higdon said. “Instead of flying planes, he decided to jump from them.”
After graduating in 1999, Higdon joined the Army fresh out of high school at the age of 17. And few family members were surprised with his decision.
“It was just something he always seemed interested in,” Little said. “He was doing what he believed in, which is what he always did.”
“He just wanted to make a difference,” Mrs. Higdon said.
Mrs. Higdon described Higdon as determined in everything he did. While sifting through Higdon’s notes from basic training, Mrs. Higdon came across one that summed up his motto: “Keep your eye on the prize.”
While Higdon was passionate about his work, the most important thing in his life was his family, Little said.
“That’s all he wanted to do was be with his family,” Little said.
Higdon has a daughter, Kacie, and a son, Hunter. Mrs. Higdon mentioned that Higdon and his son held a close relationship with one another.
And as for 4-year-old Kacie, “She’s a carbon copy of him,” Little said. “She adored her daddy.” And he adored her.
“He loved his baby girl with all his heart,” Mrs. Higdon said.
Both of his parents described Higdon as a family man to not only his wife and children, but also to his brothers.
“To me, he was the perfect person,” Little said. “The last four years we were very close. I thank God for that time.”
Funeral services for Higdon will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home in Temple.
