John Lanham Higginbotham Jr.

Higginbotham, John Lanham, Jr. Died Monday, October 14th in Dallas, Texas. He was born July 27, 1920, to John Lanham Higginbotham, Sr. and Glenn Platt Higginbotham. He was preceded in death by his wife of sixty years, Ann W. Higginbotham. He is survived by his three children and their spouses: Cynthia and John B. Scofield, Genie and James A. Bentley, Jr. and Adrienne and Lanham Higginbotham III and niece and her husband Linda and Pat Rayes. Also surviving him are his four grandsons and their wives: John and Denise Scofield, Chuck and Beth Scofield, Jim and Anne Bentley, Fred and Bethany Bentley and nine great grandchildren: Ellen, Mary Caroline and Jack Scofield, Sadie and Lanham Scofield, Sam and Alex Bentley and Frederick and Calvin Bentley. He is also survived by special friend, Jean Snodgrass.

Lanham graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1937 and from SMU in 1941. After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served as a Primary Flight Instructor at Jones Field in Bonham, Texas. Following his discharge from the Army Air Corps, he briefly served as a pilot for Braniff Airways. Later, he worked in the Higginbotham-Bartlett Lumber Yards in Shallowater, Sweetwater and Muleshoe, Texas. He returned to Dallas and worked in the insurance business for eighteen years. Then, in 1967 he rejoined the family businesses until his retirement in 2002. Lanham held the positions of Executive Vice President of Higginbotham-Bailey Co., a Dallas wholesale dry good distributor, and Chairman of the Board of Higginbotham-Pearlstone, a Dallas wholesale hardware distributor. He also served as President and Chairman of the Board of Higginbotham Bros. & Co., which operated eighteen retail lumber yards and dry goods stores from its home office in Comanche, Texas. Additionally, he was Chairman of the Board of Higginbotham-Bartlett, a firm which operated thirty-nine lumber yards from its home office in Lubbock, Texas. Finally, he worked as General Partner of the Higginbotham Cattle Company, managing a Black Angus cow-calf ranch in Gaines County, Texas. Lanham also contributed his time to Dallas, serving in 1961 as President of the Dallas Sales Executives and then in 1964 as President of the Lions’ Club of Downtown Dallas. A member of Highland Park United Methodist Church since his marriage there in 1942, he taught Sunday School and served on the church’s Board of Stewards. He was a member of the Dallas Country Club and the Salesmanship Club.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Thursday, October 17th at Sparkman Hillcrest, 7405 West Northwest Highway, Dallas, Texas 75225. Following a private interment, a Memorial Service will be held in the sanctuary of the Lovers Lane United Methodist Church on Friday, October 18th at 10:00 am. The family requests those wishing to send memorials direct them to the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, 400 S. Zang Blvd., Suite 700, PMB 77, Dallas, TX 75208-6642 or SMU P.O. Box 750402, Dallas, Texas 75275-0402. Online condolences maybe made at www.Sparkman-Hillcrest.com.