William Samuel Briggs

Oct. 8, 1942- Nov. 11, 2021

We find it fitting that our hero passed on from the physical to the spiritual world on Veterans Day.  Bill was a hero to his wife Dee, daughters Chris and Megan and grand daughter Lauren; brothers Christopher, Jon and David; sisters Linda, Leslie and Marilee and many beloved nieces and nephews and cousins.

Bill was born Oct. 8, 1942 to Elizabeth Crane Briggs and Samuel Briggs Jr.  He graduated from Hanover Highschool in 1960.  He proudly served in the U.S Navy from 1962 – 1964 aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal CVAF9.  He graduated from Farleigh Dickinson University in 1977 with a BS in business management.

Bill married the love of his life, Diane Preston on Oct 2, 1965.  Together they made their vision a reality and moved from N.J to Pa. and designed and built a 3 story A -frame on 33 acres of property.  Deer Run was a weekend project that had the help of Jeff, Jon, Christopher and many more of the family that took years to fully complete.

Bill managed to have the best of both worlds: Weekends at Deer Run living the farm life, herding cattle, fixing fences, fishing in the pond, hunting and chopping wood for the winter fires. Weekdays found him driving off to be a successful leader in the high tech computer programming industry from New Jersey, and Chicago to Washington D.C.

After visiting Dee's sister in Arizona for several years, Bill and Dee fell in love with the Santa Rita Mountains and bought a house with a beautiful view of the mountains in 2012.  Bill finally retired and they became snowbirds and for many years enjoyed the beauty of Deer Run in the summer and the wonderful weather of Tucson in the winter. They also traveled Europe with several River Cruises.

In 2020 fate stepped in and Bill and Dee sold their beloved Deer Run to the neighbor's daughter who grew up knowing the Briggs family and always admired it and wanted to buy it. Bill and Dee became fulltime Green Valley residents.  Bill enjoyed being a member of the photography club and using the wood shop.  He enjoyed walking their poodle, Cassie on the many trails daily and enjoying and photographing nature along the way.

Bill was diagnosed with cancer in February 2021 and fought hard with a positive attitude through many rounds of radiation, chemo, immunotherapy and chemo again.  He died at home on hospice peacefully with his wife and daughters at his side.  He was welcomed into the spiritual world by his mother Elizabeth, father Samuel, his brothers Jeff and Rick, his father-in-law Cass and his son-in-law Rick.

Dad supported St Jude Charity and we have set up a fund for donations in his memory:

St Jude Memorial

https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/GiftFunds/GiftFunds?px=7293677&pg=personal&fr_id=39300