ALFRED EUGENE HIGGANBOTHAM died at 12:30 January 1, 2009. His funeral services will be held Saturday January 3 at 2:00 pm in the Chapel of the First Christian Church at 36th and Walker in Oklahoma City. He will be laid to rest at Rose Hill Cemetery. Funeral home is Mercer Adams, Bethany, OK. Here is Als story.. in his words in a note that was intended to be placed in a doll house he was making: I was born October 15, 1928, here in Oklahoma City, OK in the front bedroom at 2416 W. S. 25th. I was named after Alfred E. Smith, who was running for president at the time. (He was not elected). My father, Ernest, was a shoe repair man and he had his own shop on Exchange Avenue, in packing town. My mothers name was Agnes and I had two sisters Dorothy and Marie and two brothers Johnny and Edward. I attended school here. First Columbus Grade School, on 25th and Penn, then Jackson Jr. High at 25th & Villa. I graduated from Capitol Hill Sr. High in 1946. In 1946, I entered the army on an 18 month enlistment. I spent most of the time in South Korea. When I returned, I went to college. Ended up getting a business degree from Oklahoma City University. Finished in 1952. While at OCU, I met a little girl. Her name was Winona Maxine Childers. We dated for 3 years and 3 months and got married August 20, 1951. Low and behold, we started having kids. Our first born was Olan Dean then came Gary Neal and then we had Dale Eric, then we had a surprise and had #4 son Chris Evan. So we had 4 wonderful sons and we had more fun with them than you can imagine. Did cub scouts, boy scouts, float trips down the Illinois and many wonderful things. In 1975 we all went to Europe on a 30 day trip. After we went to Greece, Egypt and Turkey for 4 weeks. BOY DID WE HAVE FUN TOGETHER. About 1965, Winona and I started our own business. We did pegboard accounting forms and sold them all over the state of Oklahoma. This was a neat business and we all worked in it together. (Stayed in business all that time until 2008 when I sold the business.) Our first House we got was at 4117 N. 13th. Lived there about 11 years and had so many kids that we had to move. Moved to 2901 Grove about 35 years ago. In June of 08 we moved to the Vineyard Cottages. We have now been married more than 50 years. What a time we have had. In August of 2001, our whole family, Dean and his wife, Carolyn, and their son, Clark; Gary and his wife, Sarah, and their daughter, Megan; Dale and his wife, Susan, and their children, Andrew and Lauren; and Chris and his wife, JoLynne, and their daughters, Sarah and Haley, and my lovely wife, Winona, 16 in all, went to Playa De Carmen, Mexico for our 50th wedding anniversary. WINONA AND I HAVE TRAVELED ALL OVER THE WORLD- NEVER MADE A TRIP WE DID NOT HAVE FUN DOING. Winona got interested in making dolls and then miniature dolls and doll houses in the last few years. This doll house was given to Winona and me by our son Dale. We have spent hours putting this house together. Winona is the one who tells me what to do while we work on it. I hope that who ever finds this note gets a kick out of this house and likes knowing about Winona & me Our 4 sons now live: #1 Dean with his wife Carolyn and son Clark in Oklahoma City, #2 Gary in San Diego, CA with his wife Sarah and daughter Megan, #3 son, Dale in Tulsa, OK with his wife Susan and his kids Andrew and Lauren and our #4 son Chris lives in Houston, TX with his wife JoLynne and his kids Sarah and Haley. Guess you could say I have had a wonderful life; I have the best wife in the world and a truly wonderful family. Best Regards to who ever finds this note. Al Higganbotham