By Marita Krivda Poxon
Caption (above photo): Tom Higgins with his sash as a 2012 St. Patrick’s Day Parade Ring of Honor member stands next to his wife Dee McAllister Williams on the Parkway.
Tom Higgins well known to the local Irish community self describes himself as an American Irishman with deep roots in both Philadelphia as well as Mount Bellew, County Galway. Speaking with a pronounced Galway brogue, Higgins has worn an extraordinary number of hats for the local Irish community always ending up in leadership roles in these organizations because of his extraordinary gifts cultivated on both sides of the Atlantic.
Higgins has served as the President of the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame for four years during which time the Irish Center became a 501 (c) (3) non-profit. This has automatically made the Hall of Fame also a non-profit. The Hall of Fame donates all funds collected to the Irish Center. Since the Delaware Valley Hall of Fame was founded in 2000, it has honored over seventy individuals who have promoted Irish heritage and culture. He is one hundred percent behind the Hall of Fame’s two step mission:
1: Raising money for the Commodore John Barry Arts & Cultural Center
2. Honoring people in the Irish community who promote the Irish Center through their talents in diverse cultural fields including dance, music, singing, writing, theater as well as sports, business and politics.
The Hall of Fame has a selection committee chosen from the eighteen person rotating board who solicit each year applicants for consideration. Each year the board vote democratically for three new Hall of Fame members and one Commodore John Barry award winner. At the entrance to the Irish Center on the stone wall in a prominent location there is a large wooden plaque which lists the names of all the winners.
Other hats that Higgins has worn are just as significant – board member of the Irish Diaspora Center and coach for the GAA Delco Gaels. Since 2002, Higgins has served on the board of the Upper Darby-based Irish Diaspora Center formerly known as the Irish Immigration Center. While serving on the board, Higgins considers the hiring of the Irish-born Siobhan Lyons as director a great personal achievement. She streamlined the operations of the center with her programs still in operation. In an altogether different capacity, Higgins has been involved for over 20 years with Delco Gaels Gaelic Football working as a coach and enthusiastic promoter of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association.) In raising his three sons (Tom, Conor and Ronan) who have great athletic gifts, this promotion of sport has helped Higgins strengthen his bonds with them.
Higgins’ parents were both born in Ireland, his mother in Donegal and his father in Mount Bellew, Galway. Both emigrated from Ireland and met in Philadelphia where they married in 1965. Their first son Tom was born in 1966 followed by two other sons. However Ireland lured his parents back. The Higgins family returned to County Galway in 1977 so that Tom’s father could run the family farm five miles from Mount Bellew. They lived together in this small town known at the time for having fourteen pubs, one church and two schools. Higgins has fond memories of these days:
“Mount Bellew was five miles from where my dad grew up. He had my grandparents’ farm that he went back to manage then he opened a gas station with a car repair garage and then he had a pub which my mother helped to run. He loved the Pub scene. He fancied himself an entrepreneur even operating a car rental operation for tourists. All the time he also tended to the family farm where he grew Christmas trees.”
While in Ireland, Higgins attended University College Cork from 1983 until 1986. Upon graduation, he returned back to Philadelphia where he has built his career and raised his family. For the past thirty plus years he has had a successful career in real estate working primarily in residential and investment property sales. Many of his first clients were the late 80s local Irish community. His circle has expanded greatly but still includes the children and grandchildren of his first Irish clients. His current employer is Keller Williams in Blue Bell. Higgins married Dee McAllister from Lafayette Hill where they have lived for thirty years raising four children.
Perhaps the hat that he wears which is dearest to his heart is as the founder along with his wife Dee of a non-profit “CKH for CP” which benefits his daughter Ciara Higgins who is now seventeen years old and a senior at Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School. Ciara was born premature with cerebral palsy which has required expensive therapy while she was growing up. Ciara’s parents have held fundraisers each year for 15 years to help to offset these costs. This year’s CKH for CP 2020 Golf, Dinner & Auction Event will be held on Monday October 16th, 2020 at the Blue Bell County Club. The arrangements made for the dinner which is limited to eighty people comply with strict Covid19 precautions since everything will be outdoors.
15th Annual CKH for CP Golf Outing at Blue Bell Country Club; 1800 Tournament Drive; Blue Bell, PA. Golfers $150 per person; Dinner Guests $50 per person. If you would like to attend or contribute to the CKH for CP fundraiser contact: deehigginspix@yahoo.com or eileenherncane@gmail.com