Eugenia Huggins

Eugenia M. Huggins, of Deer Park, IL, formerly of Lincolnshire, IL and Racine, WI, passed away Monday, January 8, 2018 in Barrington, IL.

She was born May 8, 1924 in New York, New York, the daughter of the late Douglas Brooke and Freda Rochelle McFadden (nee Itzkall). Eugenia attended both Hunter College Model School and Julia Richman High School in New York City.  Upon graduation she was selected to participate in the Curtiss-Wright Cadette program, which sponsored a select number of talented young women to study the engineering sciences during World War II. The Curtiss-Wright program sent her to Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, where she met Homer D. Huggins, an Ensign in the United States Coast Guard.  They were married in the Sage Chapel at Cornell University on August 20, 1943.

Eugenia moved to Illinois and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1945.  She and Homer moved to Racine, WI, in January 1946, and their first child was born a year later.  In 1958 Mrs. Huggins began substitute teaching.  In 1962 she started teaching full time in the Racine Unified School District, first as a math teacher at Starbuck Junior High and then as an English teacher at Washington Park High School, where she taught until her retirement in June of 1984. In 1972 Eugenia completed a Masters of Arts in English at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.  During her years as an educator she was an outstanding example of and active spokesperson for the value of a high quality public education.

Following her retirement, Eugenia and Homer travelled extensively, both in the United States and abroad.  She continued to share her love of learning through her active work as a volunteer at the Racine Public Library.

Before the phrase “pay it forward” was popularized by the movie, Eugenia and Homer embodied that spirit through their generous endowments of scholarships at both the University of Illinois and Bradley University.

Eugenia is survived by her children, Andrew (Mary) Huggins, Brian (Kathleen Quinlan) Huggins, and Laurel (James) Hochstetler; her grandchildren, Stacy (Patrick Smith) Huggins, Sarah (Craig) Sliva, Elizabeth (Richard Gulotty) Huggins, Christine Huggins, Katrina (Joseph) Hausfeld and Alex (Efrat) Hochstetler; her great-grandchildren, Ethan and Caleb Smith and Lucille and Eloise Sliva; and her sister Lila Bumstead. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Homer Don Huggins and her sister Neva McFadden.

Friends are welcome to visit with Eugenia’s family on Saturday, February 24, from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the memorial service at 12 Noon at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 941 S Old Rand Rd., Lake Zurich, IL 60047.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Eugenia’s memory to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation at www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org or to Advocate Health Care at www.advocategiving.org