Douglas Higgins, who in middle age returned to a career in education, dies

Chicago Tribune

28-03-2025

Douglas Higgins spent a quarter-century in real estate management before returning to his roots in education and spending 16 years as the principal and assistant principal of elementary and junior high schools in Bloomingdale, Steger and Calumet City.
'He loved the children, and everything that he did was about teaching and learning,' said Anita Rice, the superintendent of Lincoln Elementary School District 156 in Calumet City. 'He was deeply committed and he was very thoughtful.'
Higgins, 81, died of complications from congestive heart failure on Feb. 27 at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, said his daughter Rana.
Born in Cleveland, Douglas Allen Higgins grew up in Evanston and attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, where he played baseball and basketball. He received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1965.
After picking up a master's degree from Notre Dame in 1966, Higgins taught English at Washington High School in South Bend, Indiana, for two years. He substitute taught in Chicago before taking a full-time job in1969 teaching English at Crane Tech High School on the West Side.
In the early 1970s, Higgins switched careers and began working in property management for Draper and Kramer real estate, and later with other firms.
Then, in 1998, he left real estate and went back to school at National Louis University, earning what then was known as a type 75 certificate — now a professional educator license — to become a school administrator.
'He always was passionate about education, and he regretted leaving it,' Higgins' daughter said. 'This was an opportunity for him to change career paths. He was in his 50s at the time and felt very invigorated and didn't want to retire.'
In 1999, Higgins was hired to be an assistant principal at DuJardin Elementary School in Bloomingdale, starting the position at an age, 55, when most teachers and school administrators consider retiring. He was at DuJardin for two years before taking a job as the principal at Central Junior High School in Steger. A year later he became principal at Lincoln Elementary School in Calumet City.
'He felt a lot of fulfillment and felt he could really make a difference and really make an impact, and I think working (as a principal) harked back to his days in the Chicago Public Schools,' his daughter said. 'He regretted not doing more at that time, so this was his opportunity to make more of an impact.'
While at Lincoln, Higgins launched the school's Tiger Token store and program, as a way to encourage positive and constructive behavior from students. He also initiated the Read to Succeed program and quarterly raffle programs as a way of recognizing pupils who scored 100% on accelerated reading exams.
Bonnie Walker, an assistant principal at the school, said Higgins built a strong culture of trust in his staff.
'It wasn't a big 'I' and a little 'you' — it was a team,' she said. 'I stayed at the school because the three of us had such a strong bond. The purpose was to teach children, educate them and develop them socially so that when they left Lincoln, they'd be prepared.'
Walker also pointed to the fact that Lincoln students' test scores increased significantly during the years that Higgins was principal and she and Rice were assistant principals.
'He cared for people deeply, and the teachers loved him as an administrator and as a friend,' Rice said.
At age 71, Higgins retired from Lincoln in 2015 after 13 years as its principal.
Higgins practiced daily meditation for more than 50 years, and was a longtime follower of the Indian speaker and author Prem Rawat.
Two previous marriages ended in divorce. In addition to his daughter, Higgins is survived by his wife of 30 years, Gabriela; another daughter, Emily; a son, Daniel; two stepdaughters, Banafsheh Siadat and Marwan Siadat; a brother, John; and three grandchildren.
Services were held.