Funeral Services Set for Monsignor Higgins

TAMPA, FL — St. Lawrence Catholic Church has announced three days of services to honor the life of its longtime leader Monsignor Laurence Edward Higgins.

Higgins passed away Aug. 24 at the age of 87. The native of Magherafelt, Ireland, had served the Tampa Bay area for more than five decades and was responsible for the founding of St. Lawrence.

Higgins was ordained on June 21, 1953, and was soon after sent to the Florida Diocese of St. Augustine. He worked in Miami before coming to the Tampa Bay area in 1958.

When Higgins arrived in Tampa, he was given 20 acres of pastureland at Hillsborough and Himes avenues. At the time, Archbishop Joseph Hurley gave him a directive: “Build a parish.”

Higgins did just that.

See also: Monsignor Laurence Higgins Dead at 87

Through the years, Higgins became one of Tampa’s best-known good Samaritans. President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights for the southern states in the 1970s as he was helping build three more Catholic parishes in Tampa: St. Paul, Incarnation and Epiphany.

The Raphael Foundation was one of Higgins’ creations. Launched in 1997, the organization supports such programs as the Judeo Christian Health Clinic, the McDonald Training Center and Trinity Café.

Services for Higgins, which are open to the public, are as follows:

• Visitation – Monday, Aug. 29 and Tuesday, Aug. 30 from noon to 9 p.m. both days at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 5225 N. Himes Ave. A recitation of the Rosary will take place Monday at 7:30 p.m. and Office of the Dead: Evening Prayer at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Funeral Mass – This will be celebrated on Wednesday starting at 11:30 a.m. with Rite of Committal to follow at Garden of Memories Cemetery, 4207 East Lake Ave., Tampa. Seating for the service will be available in the church, the piazza and in Higgins Hall. Doors will open at 9 a.m.

Seating in the church is limited to those who have been given tickets in advance with assigned seats, according to St. Lawrence. Seats in the piazza and Higgins Hall can accommodate about 1,100 people. Screens will be made available for those outside the church to watch the service. Holy Eucharist will be offered in all three locations.

A live stream of the service is also planned by WFTS. Parking at the church on the day of the funeral is preassigned and reserved.

Parking will be made available at Al Lopez Park on Himes Avenue for guests who plan to attend the funeral and continue on to Garden of Memories, the church said. The lots will be closed on Aug. 31 until 4 p.m. with access restricted for those planning to attend both the funeral and burial.

Shuttle service will be made available starting at 8:30 a.m.

Guests who only plan to attend the funeral will find parking at Raymond James Stadium’s lot number 14. Shuttle service will be made available starting at 8:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, Monsignor Higgins had requested donations be made to organizations dear to his heart, the church announced. Those organizations include St. Peter Claver School, Abe Brown Ministries, the Gold Shield Foundation and Cristo Rey Tampa High School.

Photo courtesy of St. Lawrence Catholic Church