To the Editor,
Every so often, individuals come along who leave their mark on a community. Some do it with much noise and bluster. Some do it quietly and without fanfare. Very often the latter end up accomplishing more.
Recently our community lost one of the quiet ones, a man who went about his business in an unassuming way with a constant focus on giving the very best service he could to his customers and always looking for new ideas to build his community. Jerry Higgins was without doubt a giant in the Wessington Springs business community. He was a gentle giant but a giant nonetheless.
Whether it was staying open until 1 a.m. on Saturday nights years ago to be sure that everyone got their groceries or, more recently, traveling all the way to Hoven to check out their consignment store to try to decide if such a project would benefit Wessington Springs, Jerry was always thinking and looking for better ways to do things. He was a man with a ready smile and few words. He didn't speak a lot but I learned a long time ago that when he did speak, we should listen.
Our community owes Jerry and his devoted wife Betty a gigantic debt of gratitude. Much that is good about this community, and there is a lot, is due to their sincerity, their hard work and their dedication. The best tribute we can pay to them is for all of us to emulate the values and commitment they so clearly demonstrated.
There is an old saying which has been attributed to many different sources. The source is not important. The message is: “Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as true strength.” No one exemplified that message better than Jerry Higgins.
May he rest in peace.
Tom Dean
Wessington Springs, SD