Obituary: Higley, Lucinda Cox
She went to our Heavenly Father, surrounded by her entire family, to join her dad, on May 7th due to complications from pneumonia and respiratory distress syndrome.
She was raised in, and attended, Pendleton High School through her sophomore year and completed high school at Central Valley, after a family transfer to Spokane.
Cindy completed a year at WSU and another at Spokane Falls before landing her dream job at Spokane Valley Travel.
During her 18 year career in travel, she advanced from receptionist, to corporate travel agent, to manager of the agency that employed up to 50 full-time agents.
Cindy loved to travel, before deregulation of the industry, and took many “familiarization” trips around the country and the world: long weekends in New Orleans, Washington DC, and San Francisco, lunch at Tavern on the Green, afternoon tea in London and adventures in Japan.
Her favorite vacations were Las Vegas with girlfriends, Hawaii, and aboard cruise ships.
It was as his travel agent that she met Tony, and after a 5 year courtship, married.
Cindy retired from the travel business in 1996 to become a full time stay at home mom.
Cindy loved Gonzaga basketball games, socializing and working out at the Spokane Club, volunteering at the valley food bank, quilting, dining out with family, and entertaining friends.
Perhaps her favorite times were spent at Spirit Lake over the last 30 years-Cindy loved water skiing, and teaching others to swim and ski.
Cindy is survived by her husband of thirty years, Tony Higley, son Jamie Higley, daughter Kelsey Higley, mother Jessie Cox, sister Cathy Peplinski, niece Nicole Leonard, nephew Matthew Peplinski, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins.
A memorial will be held in her honor Monday, May 13th at 2:00 p.m. at Saint Aloysius Church at 330 E. Boone Ave.
In lieu of flowers, and to honor her memory, the family has established the Lucinda Cox Higley Memorial Scholarship fund at the Community Colleges of Spokane Foundation, 501 N. Riverpoint, Suite 203, Spokane, WA 99217.