Msgr Laurence Edward Higgins' Obituary
HIGGINS, P.A., Monsignor Laurence Edward
died Aug. 24, 2016. He was the founder and pastor emeritus of St. Lawrence Catholic Church of Tampa and served as pastor from 1958 to 2007, the longest tenure of any priest in the Diocese of Saint Petersburg.
Visitation will be held at St. Lawrence Monday and Tuesday from 12-9 pm, both days, with recitation of the rosary at 7:30 pm, Monday and Office of the Dead: Evening Prayer at 7:30 pm, Tuesday. A funeral Mass will be celebrated Wednesday beginning at 11:30 am, with Rite of Committal to follow in Garden of Memories Cemetery.
As one of the best known and respected spiritual and civic leaders in the Tampa Bay area for six decades, attendance at Monsignor Higgins’ funeral is expected to be significant. Seating will be available in the Church, the adjacent piazza, and in Higgins Hall. In recent months Monsignor made it known that in lieu of flowers he hoped that those interested would make contributions to one of the organizations so important to him, including St. Peter Claver School, Cristo Rey Tampa High School, Abe Brown Ministries, and the Gold Shield Foundation.
Born Sept. 3, 1928 in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland to government administrator John Higgins and homemaker Philomena, Monsignor was the third-oldest of eight children (Eoin, Mary, Ruaidhri, Philomena, Maeve, Anne, and Margaret). A star athlete, he led the County Derry Gaelic Football Team to the Irish National Championship in 1947.
Monsignor was ordained a Catholic priest on June 21, 1953 at All Hallows Seminary in Dublin, Ireland. Following ordination he was assigned to the United States and the Florida Diocese of St. Augustine. He worked first in Miami before being transferred to the mission territory of the Tampa Bay area in 1958. Monsignor became a U.S. citizen as soon as it became possible and was a proud American.
Upon his arrival in Tampa, Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley gave the young priest 20 acres of cow pasture at Hillsborough and Himes Avenues along with a mandate: “Build a parish.” The Parish was canonically established in 1959 with Masses celebrated in barracks in Drew Park, Hillsborough and Jesuit High Schools, and the Wellswood Civic Center until the provisional church building was completed in 1961. As the Parish eventually grew to include 2200 families, finances enabled the permanent church to be constructed and dedicated on April 5, 1981.
In 1961 the parish school opened with four classrooms and 91 students, followed in 1989 with the Polly Murray Early Childhood Center, named in honor of Higgins’ long-time parish administrator. Higgins Hall was opened in 1994 and is recognized as one of Tampa’s premier event venues.
When offered a more established parish in the 1970s, Monsignor requested to stay as pastor of St. Lawrence but also take on St. Peter Claver, a predominantly African-American parish near Ybor City. Monsignor guided St. Peter Claver from 1971-73. During this period President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights for southern states. He also played a role in starting three more Catholic parishes in Tampa: Epiphany, Incarnation and St. Paul.
As a priest Monsignor was appointed the Vicar General (second in command) of the Diocese of St. Petersburg from 1980-90 under the late Bishop Thomas Larkin. In 1983, Pope John Paul II gave him the title of “Monsignor Prelate of Honor” and subse-quently in 1988 “Protonotary Apostolic,” the highest rank of Monsignor. He also served as chaplain for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Rowdies and was frequently sought by Tampa Bay area media outlets to comment on church-related issues.
Monsignor gained a reputation as a good Samaritan and became a constant presence at civic and athletic events. His contri-butions to the community include serving on the board of directors of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute Foundation, Judeo Christian Health Clinic, “Higgins Alcohol and Addiction Program” at USF, Florida Treatment Center, Project Return, Gold Shield Foundation, Crisis Center of Hillsborough County, Boys and Girls Clubs, Tampa and West Tampa Chambers of Commerce, Ybor City Development Corporation, the Outback Bowl, and many others.
He founded the Raphael Foundation in 1997 which supports programs for the disadvantaged such as MacDonald Training Center, Meals on Wheels, Judeo Christian Health Clinic, Abe Brown Ministries, and Trinity Cafe. He also established “Housing by St. Laurence,” which is dedicated to helping first-time home buyers and low-income families, and San Lorenzo Terrace I and II, a HUD project of retirement apartments for low-income seniors.
A celebrated member of the Tampa Bay community, Monsignor received numerous honors including the “Outstanding Service” Award from the Cuban Civic Club, the Sertoma Club “Service to Mankind” Award, the “Citizen of the Year” Award from the Tampa Civitans Club, the “Ethics” Award from the University of Tampa, the “Gonzmart Family Ambassador” Award from the Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life “Lifetime Achievement” Award, and the Tampa Bay Light-ning “Community Hero” Award. He received an honorary law degree from Ave Maria School of Law shortly before his death.
Monsignor Higgins was a man of great gifts: charm, wit, compassion, understanding, wisdom and street smarts; a genuine man of the people. As a priest he was steadfast in prayer, faithful, loyal and always ready to serve the people. He drew his strength for this service from his deep love of God and displayed a Christ-like love for all.
Throughout his priesthood, Monsignor was fond of describing his life in sports metaphors. In his final years, he told people regularly that he was “on the five-yard line of life and moving toward the end zone.” Now that Monsignor Higgins has crossed the eternal goal line, it can surely be said that in his 63 years of dedication as a priest, and in his many acts of sacramental and civic duty, he left all he had to give upon the playing field of this life.
He fought the good fight to the end; he has run the race to the finish, he has kept the faith…
4 Timothy;7-8.
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