By BRIAN FUNK Staff Reporter
 Vaughan-Bassett Furniture lost its longest-serving employee on Saturday with the passing of 89-year-old Carlisle W. “Buck” Higgins Jr.

Higgins had worked at the Galax furniture company for 68 years. He was a past president and chairman of Vaughan-Bassett.


He had been undergoing rehabilitation after a fall last December, but had returned to work on a limited basis up until he was admitted to Twin County Regional Hospital last week.

“His mind was sharp right up until the end,” said Doug Bassett, executive vice president of Vaughan-Bassett.

Bassett said Higgins was an important link to both the company’s history and to the history of the furniture industry.

Born in 1918, in Sparta, N.C., Higgins graduated in 1935 from Oak Ridge Military Institute and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1939.

Higgins began working for Vaughan-Bassett Furniture in September 1939, shortly after marrying Margo Vaughan, daughter of company founder Bunyan C. Vaughan.

He was sent for training in Johnson City, Tenn., and eventually returned to the headquarters in Galax.

Around this time, Higgins was called to serve in World War II. “He was extremely proud of the time he spent training other pilots in Phoenix, Az.,” Bassett said.

Higgins served as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was stationed as a pilot in Australia, Burma and the Philippines during World War II.

Higgins returned to Vaughan-Bassett after the war. In 1963, Higgins and a fellow Air Corps pilot, Wyatt Exum, began operating the company. Higgins served as Vaughan-Bassett’s president and chief executive officer from 1963 to 1985, and as the company’s chairman of the board until January 2014.

Bassett said Higgins loved his job at Vaughan-Bassett and came to work as often has he could, health permitting, through this year.

At the time of his death, Higgins was semi-retired and still served as vice chairman of the board.

Higgins’ work at Vaughan-Bassett in recent years involved the company’s credit department. Bassett said Higgins kept a close watch on delinquent accounts “and we’ve had great success in collecting from our 3,000 customers.”

John Bassett, chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture, said that Higgins was a mentor to him when Bassett joined the company 25 years ago. “He loved his work and always had meaningful and insightful ideas. He truly left his mark on the industry.”

Higgins died at Twin County Regional Hospital, a facility for which he served on the founding board when it was built.

His service on the board was an example of his lifetime of community involvement.

Higgins served for many years on the Galax School Board and the board of directors of the Wytheville Community College Educational Foundation. He received and honorary degree from the college in 2012.

John Vaughan, former president of Vaughan Furniture, said Higgins was one of his best friends. “He’s been a great citizen of Galax. Every time something came along to improve life in the city, Buck was in the forefront, raising money for it.”

Doug Bassett said Higgins’ passions were golf and traveling to furniture markets.

“He and Wyatt loved to travel to the west coast to play golf, especially at Pebble Beach and along the Monterey Peninsula. He was famous for having a wonderful time at furniture markets in Chicago, Dallas and High Point. He was known for working hard and playing hard.”

Higgins was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Galax.

He was preceded in death by Margo, in 1971. Survivors include the couple’s two daughters, and his second wife, Ginny.

An obituary for Higgins appears on page 8A.