A.G. Higgins, 45, lawyer, civic leader

Ann-Michele Gleason Higgins, 45, of Bryn Mawr, a Radnor Township commissioner and a lawyer who argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, died of breast cancer Sunday at home.

Mrs. Higgins was a partner with the firm of Rawle & Henderson in Philadelphia, concentrating on maritime and commercial litigation. In January, while undergoing treatment for cancer, she argued a case before the Supreme Court involving a Malaysian ship owner whose vessel had been seized in China.

"Ann-Michele was always the ultimate professional," said Tom Kuzmick, a Rawle & Henderson partner. "She remained positive and upbeat."

Mrs. Higgins was a past president of the Women's International Trade Association in Philadelphia and was recently honored as its woman of the year.

Since 2001, she had served on the Radnor Township Commission. She chaired its Community Development Committee and was a member of its Public Works, Finance, Personnel and Public Safety Committees.

Mrs. Higgins grew up in Radnor, where her father, William J. Gleason, was township treasurer and a member of the Zoning Hearing Board. Her parents often worked the polls on Election Day, she said in an Inquirer article in 2005. As commissioner, she said, she had the opportunity to exhibit the same community service they demonstrated.

Mrs. Higgins graduated from Merion Mercy Academy. She received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University, where she met her future husband, Kevin Higgins. She earned a law degree from Widener University and received an oral advocate award in a Mid-Atlantic moot-court competition.

For 41/2 years she battled breast cancer with determination, said her mother, Helen Gleason. In 2006, she continued to drive to Hershey Medical Center to participate in a clinical trial, even after discovering that she was not chosen to receive a new therapy, because she believed that her participation might result in patient access to a potentially important drug sooner, her mother said.

During her illness she kept working, and skied, camped, biked, volunteered with the Girl Scouts, made dinner for her husband and children, and spent time at her family's home in Ocean City, N.J.

In addition to her husband and mother, Mrs. Higgins is survived by daughters Claire and Elise, two brothers, and a sister.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Katharine of Siena Roman Catholic Church, Lancaster and Aberdeen Avenues, Wayne, where friends may call from 6:30 to 9 p.m. today. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.