Doris Holdiness Collins Higginbotham, 84, passed away on Monday, September 29, 2014, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, Mississippi. Visitation will be on Thursday, October 2, 2014, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Nowell-Massey Funeral Home in Louisville, Mississippi. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 3, 2014, in the Nowell-Massey Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Franklin Smith officiating. Music will be provided by Linda Fortune and Sherry Clay who will be accompanied by Jewel Johnson; and by Emily Rogers accompanied by Dr. Angela Willoughby. Interment will follow in Indian Springs Cemetery.
Mrs. Higginbotham was born on February 25, 1930, to Mack and Mary Burnham Holdiness. She was a member of Indian Springs Assembly of God Church, and she was a seamstress at Wells Lamont Glove Factory in Philadelphia, Mississippi, for more than 40 years. Mrs. Higginbotham is survived by her daughter, Carolyn Collins Rogers and husband, Billy Wayne, of Brandon, Mississippi; and by her son, William Laverne Collins and wife, Tricia, of Saltillo, Mississippi. She was “Grandma Doris” to four granddaughters, Jennifer Claire Nash, and husband, Claude; Amanda Carol Ferguson and husband, Lane; Emily Nicole Rogers; and Carla Jane Elkins and husband, Lance. She was also “Grandma Doris” to eight great-grandchildren: Joshua Cole Ferguson, Collin Lane Ferguson, Alyssa Jade Ferguson, Cayman Owen Rigdon, Whitney Mae Rigdon, Zane Marshall Rigdon, William Gregory Elkins, and Parker Stuart Elkins. Doris is also survived by four sisters: Marie Blount of Richland, Mississippi; Mary Pittman of Pearl, Mississippi; Dotsy Thomas and husband, Cecil, of Richland; and Jewel Johnson and husband, Eugene, of Maryville, Tennessee; as well as, numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husbands, William Washington Collins and Gilbert Higginbotham; her parents; and her siblings: Elbert Holdiness, Nona Drury, Gladys Parker, Mack Holdiness, Ruth Boatner, and Mabel Guy.
Serving as pallbearers will be Gene Clay, Lance Elkins, Collin Ferguson, Joshua Ferguson, Lane Ferguson, Danny Fortune, Claude Nash, and Cayman Rigdon. Memorials may be given to the American Cancer Society, c/o Penny’s From Heaven, 532 East Main Street, Louisville, MS 39339.
Services are under the direction of Nowell-Massey Funeral Home, 724 North Columbus Avenue, Louisville, MS. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family by signing the guest register at www.nowellmasseyfuneralhome.com.