Hazel Elizabeth (Honeycutt) Higginbotham

Hazel Elizabeth Higginbotham, 103, of Crossett, passed away peacefully on May 29, 2019, at the Stonegate Villa Health and Rehabilitation Center.  On January 8, 1916, she was born to her parents Henry and Lilly Honeycutt in the small township of Bengin, Arkansas.  

Hazel had a modest Christian childhood and could easily recall stories of the many horse and buggy rides with her family along with enjoying a delicious new drink for the very first time called Sweet Tea.  After graduating high school, she advanced her education by completing additional business courses which helped land her a position at an attorney’s office in Hamburg and later a secretary job at the Simplex Plant in Crossett.

In 1939, she was invited to double date with friends and a blind date, named Philip Higginbotham to see the movie titled, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” in Crossett.  The date was a success and began a love story that spanned sixty-five incredible years.  She and Philip moved to Crossett in 1940, and became devoted members of the First Baptist Church of Crossett.  Hazel was a faithful Christian woman who was humble, honest, and adored by her church family.   She enjoyed crocheting and playing bridge with her friends and had a immense weakness for sweets, especially fruitcake.

Along with her parents, Hazel is preceded in death by her husband, Philip Ronald Higginbotham; three brothers, Jamie, Earl, and Chester Honeycutt; and her two sisters, Marie Stewart, and Verna May Johnston.  
 

She is survived by one son and daughter-in-law, Phil and Marta Higginbotham of Spartanburg, SC; five grandchildren, Cary Hart of Houston, TX, Phil R. Higginbotham III and wife, Isabell, of Dallas, TX , Hayley Elizabeth Boyer and partner, Danny, of Asheville, NC, Catherine Stokes and husband, Mason, of Charleston, SC, and Justin Lerch and wife, Janet, also of Charleston; three great-grandchildren Hunter and Savannah Hart of Houston, TX, and Holden Higginbotham of Dallas. 

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, May 31st at the First Baptist Church of Crossett, 701 Main St., with Pastor Jamie Staley officiating, followed by interment at Pinewood Memorial Park under the direction of Medders Funeral Home. Pallbearers are Hunter Hart, Mason Stokes, Jerry Finley, Tommy Hooks, Campbell Wilkerson, and Charles Noble. 
 

Visitation will be from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Thursday, May 30th at the Medders Funeral Home, 1564 Hwy 52 W, Crossett.

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