Dave Higgins didn’t know it when he showed up on the St. Vincent de Paul campus in the Smoketown/Shelby Park neighborhood on Aug. 23, but he was in for a surprise.
Higgins, long an influential member of the board of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, had an alley on the campus named in his honor. According to a news release from the society, Higgins, a retired former chief operating officer of Brown Forman’s Wine Company, was one of the chief movers behind the society’s decision to expand and modernize its campus in the Jackson Street area.
In fact, during his tenure as chairman of the board, the release said, the St. Vincent de Paul Society developed its expansion plan that included construction of 54 new apartments for homeless families and individuals, and a collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana to offer year-round youth programming, case management services and a Dare to Care Kids Cafe. The cafe will serve residents of St. Vincent de Paul and the surrounding community.
The expansion led by Higgins also will include an adult education and training center, improvement of the charity’s existing programs, including a men’s emergency overnight homeless shelter, the release said.
Higgins, a 1953 graduate of Flaget High School, earned a business degree at the University of Louisville in 1957 and worked for 43 years at Brown Forman Corp. The 77-year-old retiree is a past recipient of the St. Anthony Medal, presented to individuals who have worked for social justice in the Louisville community.
