Michael Lawrence Huggins

Born October 28, 1927 in Houghton, Michigan, the only child of Lawrence & Bertha Huggins, he grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois. Growing up he enjoyed books that were mysterious, loved baseball and going to the movies.

“Mick” as Mom referred to him, was drafted in the Army during World War II although he was not deployed. Mick completed high school at East St. Louis Public High School and one year of college at Washington University in St. Louis. Quite an accomplishment in the mid 1900’s.

He met his sweetheart, Debartha Ann Cleaver, at a baseball game when she was 17 and he was 19. She loved his “smile and personality” and to ensure a second meeting, Debartha stole one of his baseball cleats. She knew this would result in a second visit. They then went on a double date to the movies with Pat & Bev Arendal. At the time, Mick was a meat scaler at Hunter Packing Company. After 6 months, they were married – they had a simple wedding with family and close friends.

He spent the next 35 years in the Department of Agriculture and retired as Director of Labor Relations, Food Safety Services in Washington, DC. They retired to a life of 35 years in Ocala, Florida. Mick and Debartha celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2018. They moved back to Virginia in 2016 to be close to family.

Dad’s favorites – he enjoyed putting up the Christmas tree the Sunday before Christmas each year – according to Grandmother, he was very particular how it was decorated. They would take the tree down on New Year’s Eve. He also absolutely loved mom’s pork chops and banana pudding.