Obituary: David Eric Higgins: 1937 – 2013

December 26th, 2013 by JCB
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David Eric Higgins was born on 20th December 1937 near Colwyn Bay, North Wales.

Following his pre-sea training on H.M.S. Conway from 1953 to 1955, he joined the Port Line sailing to Australia and New Zealand. He then transferred to Ellerman & Pappyanni Line on their Liverpool to Mediterranean service where he served as 2nd Mate until joining the Manchester service as Helmsman (all trainee Manchester pilots commenced their training as helmsmen) in 1961. There he progressed through the grades to become authorised as a 1st Class pilot in 1990. It was at that time we changed our working system to a ‘watch system’ with Dave becoming a member of Red Watch, and there was a strong “esprit de corps” within each watch. Dave had a love of bowling, being a keen and active Upton Bowling Club member for some 40 years and one of the best players in the club. Up until very recently, he continued to attend matches, marking cards etc. As for his other pastime he liked walking (preferably with plenty of refreshment stops). Red Watch, as a group of colleagues occasionally went walking in the Lake District – and to Dave’s amusement, some would arrive in a Jaguar and staying at the local YMCA; we called ourselves The Dinosaurs.Dave especially enjoyed his days with family of two sons and three grandchildren. He was a loyal team member in piloting life, a good team mate in his bowling life a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend.

Grahame Kitchen (Manchester Retd.)