Douglas Franklin Briggs' Obituary
Douglas Franklin Briggs was born on March 24, 1937 in Springfield, Ohio to William Franklin Briggs and Sylvia Northrup. He had six siblings; Bonnie, Sylvia, Philip, Penny, Kay and Beverly. He had a very modest upbringing and lived most of his life in Tavares, Florida. He married Mary Emily Campbell, the woman of his dreams, on October 25, 1958. Doug served in the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged on April 3, 1962. Doug received an Associates of Science degree from Lake Sumter Junior College in 1968. He was the face of the Hallmark Card shop in Leesburg that he owned and operated for over 30 years. He wrote a letter to my mother upon expecting their first child that we recently found in his belongings that is worth sharing. It reads as follows:
My Epitaph for Freedom
As I look from our bedroom window, I can see the moon reflecting its silver rays off the tombstones of our honored dead in Arlington National Cemetery, men who gave their everything so that my wife, Mary, may sleep in our bed with her unborn child in peace, and knowing that I will be beside her soon and that those heros, one and all, wherever they lie, are not forgotten and never will be.
We sometimes take for granted our peace now and the memory of days gone by tends to slip our mind. But on this night it seems as if in the stillness I can almost feel the pain and sorrow of the men who lay in rest, dead, for death is but an interlude of the most profound peace.
We must all fight now, not with guns but with love, a love for each person on earth. It is hard I know, but with Gods help we will find our peace.
As I sit here, I realize how lucky I am and how good God has been to me. I have the most wonderful wife in the world, and a child soon to be born, we are healthy and happy in love. I wish each person who reads this would stop and think what a lucky person he or she is and stop to thank God that we were born Americans. But now we must do all we can to improve our world and our world lies in our children. Give your children yourself and give yourself to God, so that your children and mine will always remember the sacrifice that was made by all the men known and unknown whose bodies rest under plain white stones throughout the world and who can never and will never be forgotten.
Mary and Doug has three children; Steven, Cynthia and Elaine. Steven passed away on October 17th of this year. Our dad was heartbroken. Doug is survived by his daughters, Cynthia Briggs-Burch and Elaine Briggs-McLeod; and his two beautiful granddaughters, Darah Briggs-Wenzowski and Sarah McLeod-Chace.
Every summer he looked forward to vacationing on Sanibel Island and fishing his days away. He often recalled that those days were the best times of his life. As a father, he was not perfect and had many faults but we knew that we were loved and that he would ultimately do anything for his family. He instilled in us kids a strong work ethic, to take pride in what we do, and to respect others.
We learned a lot from our father. He could fix about anything and passed some of those skills down to his children. At least the ones we had the patience to learn, as our dad was a perfectionist. Mom and Dad molded us into who we are today and though we are definitely not perfect, they did pretty good. This world is not easy and in the end we do it all for our children as they will be the ones to carry on.
Our father passed away on December 23rd quietly in his home the way he wanted. Dad, we pray you have found your profound peace because you deserve it.
With love from your daughters,
Cynthia Briggs-Burch and Elaine Briggs-McLeod
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