Meet a TSR Rotarian

Born in Topeka, Kansas, Rick Higgs has been a lifelong resident of Topeka.  He graduated from Topeka West High School and the University of Kansas where he studied Architectural Engineering for two and a half years.  Rick graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 1982.  While at KU, Rick was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

Upon graduation, Rick went to work for Midwest Management, managing rental properties, for the Farmers Home Administration in Kansas and the western one third of Missouri.  The apartments were in towns with populations smaller than 20,000 people and designed for moderate to low income families.

On June 19, 1985, after three years in property management, Rick went to work as an Insurance Agent with Northwestern Mutual.  In November of 1992, Rick started his own business, Higgs Financial Services, Inc.  As an Independent Agent, Rick works in many areas of the financial services industry, including life and health insurance.  He also spends his time with small business owners working on their retirement plans and business succession issues.  Over the years, working with many financially successful clients, Rick has gained vast experience in the estate planning market.

Rick enjoys many hobbies.  He exercises five days a week at the YMCA at 5:30am.  He likes to ride his bicycle across Iowa every year, 500 miles, in an event called RAGBRAI.  He also gets some male bonding time with a ten day Harley ride across the US with a close group of friends.  By the end of the summer of 2012, Rick will have ridden his Harley Davidson motorcycle through 46 of the lower 48 states. 

Rick has been active in his community as well.  He has been on many boards including Community Bank, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ichabod Scholarship Fund and others.  His greatest joy in giving back is through his membership in Topeka South Rotary, joining Topeka South Rotary in 1986, where he served as Club President in 1995-1996 and received the Paul Harris award in 1996.

Rick married the love of his life, Michelle Cusic, on July 30, 1983.  Two weeks after getting married, Rick and Michelle moved into the Delta Gamma Sorority house at Washburn University to become House Parents for 24 college women.  They resided there for the first two years of their marriage.  Today, Rick and Michelle have two daughters, Jenni, age 25, is a Para Professional for USD 501.  Holly, age 21, is a sophomore at Kansas State University studying Interior Design.