HELEN (ROTHERY) HIGBEE, age 84, a Hingham resident since 1948, died on Tuesday, April 6th at the Cohasset Knoll Nursing Home in Cohasset after a long illness.Mrs. Higbee was born in New York City. She spent her early life in both New York City and Ridgewood, New Jersey, graduating from Ridgewood High School. She was a 1941 graduate of Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT. During World War II, Mrs. Higbee served with the American Red Cross as an activities coordinator at a hospital in Waltham.She also volunteered at the Children's Hospital in Boston, South Shore Hospital in Weymouth and in the Guidance Department at Hingham High School. A lover of music, Mrs. Higbee was very active with the Hingham Civic Music Theater and the Hingham Civic Chorus. She was a longtime member of the Hingham Congregational Church, where she sang in the choir. In addition to her interest in music and theater, she loved dancing, skiing, and was the 'helmsperson' on the family sailboat. As well as having a home in Hingham, the Higbee family summered for many years at their home in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.Wife of the late Edward W. "Ned" Higbee, III, she leaves two sons; John Edward Higbee of Falls Church, VA and Richard Lee Higbee of Hingham; her daughter, Janet Louise Higbee of Hingham; and a grandson, David Edward Higbee also of Hingham.She was the sister of the late John W. Rothery.A Memorial Service will be conducted on Saturday, April 17th at 2 PM at the Hingham Congregational Church, 378 Main St. (Rt. 228), Hingham, MA 02043.Visiting hours and flowers omitted by request. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory would be preferred to the Hingham Congregational Church.The interment is to be private.