Margaret Elizabeth (Cooper) Briggs of Greenwich, passed away on Jan. 26, 2014. She was 95.
She was born in Yorkshire, Northern England in the small parish of Bridlington.
In her teens, she immigrated to the United States to Hingham, MA. She was a Massachusetts state championship golfer in her youth and excelled in sports and by her own admission was a reasonably attentive student.
It was in Hingham, where during a naval layover for ship repairs, she met James L. Briggs who was commissioned on an escort destroyer in her Majesty's Royal Navy. When the war was over, they were married at St. George's Hanover Square in London. After a few years with a new job opportunity in hand, the couple came to the United States and settled in Greenwich.
There she established a family consisting of Peter S. Briggs and his three children, Cooper, Petey, and Wellyn; and Pamela Briggs Kreuter and her two daughters, Chase and Nina, ably assisted by their spouses Diane O'Shaughnessy Briggs and Eric Kreuter.
Mrs. Briggs was a lifelong member of the Daughters of the British Empire and a part of the "greatest generation" where bravery, camaraderie, duty and steadfastness of purpose were the orders of the day.
She was a regular church goer, and loved singing hymns . She loved sports, playing bridge and playing the piano which she did by ear never reading sheet music. She enjoyed Broadway plays.
Married for 60 years, Betty and her husband, John, summered on Cape Cod either in Hyannisport or at the Wianno Club in Osterville, MA. In her younger years she frequently visited her beloved England and most times crossed the Atlantic by boat as she loved to say that she had been on every Cunard passenger ship ever built and had won the table tennis tournament on each ocean voyage. She loved the ocean and the smell of the sea yet, ironically, never learned to swim.
She and her husband were active members of the Greenwich Field Club for more than 50 years – a place where they derived much joy and made many friends.
Predeceased by her husband in 2006, Betty's spirit and zest for live will be sorely missed by her friends and family.
A private ceremony and family burial will be held to honor her life.
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