Max Orland Higginbotham

Max Orland Higginbotham, 56 of Williams, Oregon died Saturday, March 17th at the VA Health Care Facility in Roseburg, Oregon. Max was born January 8, 1951 in Medford, Oregon. He attended grade school in Medford and moved with his family to the Applegate Valley in the early 1960's where he graduated from the 8th grade at the Applegate School. He graduated from Grants Pass High School in 1969. Max enlisted in the US Navy shortly after graduation and served 4 years at Norfolk, VA. He later worked aboard the US Geological Survey ship the SP Lee, traveling the world over as scientists mapped the sea floor, seeing such places as the Bearing Sea, Pao Pao New Guinea, the Panama Canal, Greece, Italy, Japan, the islands of the South Pacific, the Artic Circle and Antarctica. He transferred to the University of Hawaii's research vessel Mauna Wave and continued his travels around the world while scientists monitored the el nino effects. After several years he returned to the mainland, working in Redwood City, California repairing sailboats while living aboard his own boat, the Joya. In the early 1990's he and his brother-in-law drove the Pan-American Highway to Costa Rica. He later returned to Oregon and worked as a commercial fisherman. At the time of his illness he was working for Dirt Hog Excavation in Brookings, Oregon. Max's hobbies included riding, repairing and restoring motorcycles. At the time of his entrance at the Health Care Facility in Roseburg, he was restoring a 1964 Honda Dream. He is survived by two children, Nathan Potter of Jennison, Michigan, and Nichole Johnson of Santa Cruiz, California, his parents, Orland and Donna Higginbotham of Central Point, Oregon and a sister Julie Webster of Williams, Oregon. A younger brother, Robert Scott proceeded him in death in 2005. At his request, no services will be held. A gathering of friends and family is planned for a later date.