Bruce Blaine Briggs

There was a great reunion on June 25, 2024, as our loving father and grandfather passed through the veil to meet his sweet wife and all his siblings in our heavenly home. Dad was always planning family reunions and this one must have been grand as he reunited with all his siblings who had passed before. In his own words, he was the “last man standing”, chasing his baby brother through the veil. His brother had passed two weeks prior. 

Bruce Blaine Briggs was born March 9, 1940, in St. Peter, Minnesota, to Glenn Hildreth Briggs and Margaret Hayworth Dartt Briggs. He was the third of five rambunctious boys who were very close. When he was a child, the Briggs clan moved to Southern California. He loved to tell many tales about growing up in the Mojave Desert, catching and killing rattlesnakes, bathing in a basin in the front yard, or burying a junk car to keep the boys busy.

Dad attended Canoga Park High School in California playing tennis, cheering on the cheer squad, participating in student government, and attending Boy’s State. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration from what is now known as California State University Northridge. Dad worked full time to support a family while attending Brigham Young University and in 1976 his hard work paid off and he earned his master’s degree in health education.

In 1962 Dad learned about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when he moved to Utah to visit his “dumb Mormon brother”. Ironically, he married the bishop’s daughter, Elaine Greenwood on June 18, 1964, in the Salt Lake Temple. They later had five children. 

Dad taught and coached at Olympus Jr. High School for 32 years and was known by his students as “Mr. Briggs”, “Coach Briggs”, and “Mr. Buggs”. After retiring from Granite School District, he decided he wasn’t ready for the leisure of retirement, and he returned to teaching in the Jordan School District for a few more years. Even in recent years, he would run into people who said they, their parents, or even grandparents had him as a teacher. His influence was evident.

Next to his family, scouting was Dad’s greatest passion. In scouting, he received the Explorer Scout Ranger Award as well as the rank of Eagle Scout. He was awarded the Silver Beaver in 2008 for his tireless service. He served many years on the Camp Whitsett camp staff as well as other camp staff. He was voted into the Order of the Arrow, the honor society of scouting, by his troop as a youth. Within the OA, Dad was awarded his Vigil Honor and later the OA Founder’s Award. He served in various OA positions including lodge chief, section chief, and area chief.

Dad combined his love of scouting and his business degree to start a food service business providing food for the Boy Scout camps. He employed many family and friends for the summer. By doing so he was able to help many finance their missions and/or their education. 

Dad was very generous and giving. It didn’t matter what the grandkids were selling or trying to raise money for, he was willing to open his wallet for anything, even when it meant he had a lot of unusable “stuff” around his house. It was all for a “good cause”. He was always there to support his children and grandchildren. Often, he would bounce around from one sports event to another watching the beginning of one child’s game and the end of another’s. He was the glue to his extended family. As each brother passed, he took it upon himself to care for the well-being of their families. He attended every blessing, baptism, ordination, wedding, etc. even when it meant traveling across several states to do so. 

Dad loved the church and served in various callings including stake clerk, assistant clerk, stake missionary, temple worker, young men’s leader, and gospel doctrine and priesthood instructor. He spent so much time at the stake offices helping the presidency, that many in his ward thought he was less active. He had a deep testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and His atonement and never passed an opportunity to share it. This was very important to him and one of his most prized possessions.

Dad had a positive and straightforward outlook on life, referring to every bump in the road as an adventure. In the end, his adventures were many.

Dad was preceded in death by his loving wife, Elaine Greenwood; his parents, Glenn Hildreth Briggs and Margaret Hayworth Dartt; siblings, Glenn H., Walter Paul, Patrick Michael, and Christy Link. He is survived by his children, Glenn Foster (Tina), Vicki Nieman (Brent), Scott Louis (Stace), Valeri Jo Gray (Jeffrey), and Kimberly Sue Thompson (Jason); sixteen grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Monday, July 15, 2024, at 11:00 am in the Quail Run Chapel, 9245 S. Quail Run Dr., Sandy, Utah. Friends and family may pay their respects the evening of Sunday, July 14, from 6:00-8:00 pm at Goff Mortuary, 8090 State St. Midvale, Utah, or an hour before the funeral. Graveside services will be at Murray City Cemetery following the funeral.

The funeral services will be livestreamed through the church, please click on the link provided  https://zoom.us/j/98903964783 (https://zoom.us/j/98903964783) 

(The livestream video will appear when the service starts.) 

The family would like to thank all the medical staff who helped and assisted our father in his “adventure” over the past few months.