Football ref Higgins dies

One of Spokane’s most respected football officials, S.J. “Jack” Higgins, is dead.

Higgins, who rose from the ranks of local high school officials to become one of top referees in the Pacific-10 Conference, died Sunday at age 80, according to a family statement.

His resume included two Rose Bowl games, including the 1967 classic when quarterback Bob Griese, who would become an NFL icon, led the Purdue University Boilermakers to victory over the Southern California Trojans.

Higgins attended Gonzaga High School (now Gonzaga Prep), where he played quarterback for the football team and baseball. His studies at Gonzaga University were interrupted by a three-year stint in the Marines; he was a medic in the South Pacific during World War II. After college, he went into the insurance business with his former high school coach, Bill Frazier.

In a 2000 interview, Higgins told The Spokesman-Review that he officiated his first game in 1950 at Riverside High School, earning $3.

After retiring as an official in 1979, he served for 10 years as a Pac-10 evaluator of college officials.

Higgins married Catherine Codd of Spokane in 1953. She preceded him in death in 1984. He is survived by a son, Stephen John Higgins of Seattle; a daughter-in-law, Ellen Higgins; two grandchildren; and a brother, J.P. “Pat” Higgins of San Diego. Among his large extended family is cousin Tom Foley, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A vigil service is planned at 7 tonight at Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home, 2203 N. Division. Funeral Mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Aloysius Church, 330 E. Boone Ave.