Vicki Vavra Higham, 63, of Fair Hill, MD, passed away on Sunday March 1, 2015 at Seasons Hospice at Christiana Hospital. Born on April 28, 1951 in Wilmington, Delaware, she was the daughter the late William Joseph and Mildred Louise (Welch) Vavra. Raised in Cooper Farms near Wilmington DE, she attended St. John the Beloved Grammar School and graduated from Padua Academy in 1969. She resided in Delaware until 1986 when she moved to Fair Hill, MD in Cecil County with her husband and children. Vicki graduated from Del Tech-Stanton with a degree in Nursing in 1983. In 1992 she graduated from Wilmington College with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and received a Master of Science in Nursing from Widener University in 1998. Vicki was a staff nurse with Christiana Care for seventeen years and worked at Astra Zeneca in Fairfax from 2000 until 2007 when she took a position at Neurobiological Technologies of Emeryville CA as a Clinical Project Manager. In 2009 she became a Clinical Study Manager with W.L. Gore in Elkton MD. Vicki was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing in 1995 and was a Clinical Nursing Instructor at Cecil College 1996-1997.

Vicki is survived by her husband of 38 years, Stephen K. Higham; a daughter and son-in-law, Stephanie and Benjamin Coldren of Baltimore MD, a son and daughter-in-law, Justin and Morgan Higham of Humboldt County, CA; three granddaughters, Estella and Beatrice Coldren and Isabelle Higham, and a sister, Judith (Vavra) and her husband, Austin Peet of Chambersburg, PA. She is also survived by; sister-in-law Carol (Higham) McNamara of Ship Bottom, NJ, brother-in-law William and his wife Patricia (Bills) Higham of Yardley, PA, brother-in-law Michael and his wife Patricia (Olsen) Higham of Middletown, MD, sister-in-law Kathleen Higham and her husband Alfredo Iavarone of Robbinsville, NJ, brother-in-law Timothy and his wife Anne (Glassman) Higham of Riverview, FL, brother-in-law Anthony and his wife Mary Elizabeth (Sweeney) Higham of Toms River, NJ, sister-in-law Jane (Higham) and her husband Carl Thiel of Indian Land, SC, sister-in-law Susan (Higham) and her husband Thomas Baker of Pennington, NJ, brother-in-law Dennis Higham of Fort Myers, FL and brother-in-law Terrence Higham of State College, PA. Also surviving are scores of nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by sisters-in-law Mary Lou Sheppard and Eleanor Panfen and by brothers-in- law Gerald P. Higham and Justus C. Higham Jr.

A celebration of Vicki’s life will be held at 12 noon on Saturday March 7, 2015 at R.T. Foard Funeral Home, P.A., 111 S. Queen St., Rising Sun, MD 21911 with a visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Vicki’s memory to: Faithful Friends Animal Society and mailed c/o the funeral home.