David Arthur Briggs, Sr., 77, of Traverse City died Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at Traverse Victorian Senior Living in Traverse City.
David was born in Pontiac on Tue, May 24, 1938 to Theodora (Lawton) and Chester Arthur Briggs. He married Sharon Irene Beatty on Mar 16, 1957 at Bethany Baptist Church in Pontiac.
David retired as a switchman for Bell Telephone after 20 years of service. He then worked at ACE Telephone and moved on to retire from Century Telephone after another 20 years of service. Dave’s passion was building, and it was evident through the many homes he built for himself and his children. He was active in their church downstate where he taught Sunday School. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, and also was an avid trapper and duck hunter when he was younger. The most important thing to David, however, was his family. He was a devoted, son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, and would drop everything to help when anyone called.
He is survived by his children, David, Jr. (Mary) of Traverse City, Joe of Kingsley, Lonna (Hank) Ramsby and Leann (Steven) Winowiecki, of Traverse City; his beloved grandchildren: Kristina, Tamra, David III, Joe, Jr., Mark, Heather, Tyler, Jason, Miranda, and Hannah. He is also survived by his great grandchildren, Allen, Kendra, Jacob, Joey III, Isaac, Jimmy, Sarah, and Oliver. David’s brothers, Daniel of Maine and James (Judy) of NC also survive. He was preceded in death by his wife Sharon on Sept 22, 1999.
Visitation for David will take place from 6 to 8 pm, Thu, Nov 19 at Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home. The funeral service will begin at 11 am Fri, Nov 20, also at the funeral home, with Chaplain Ron White of Hospice of Michigan officiating. Burial will be in Grand Traverse Memorial Gardens.
Memorial contributions may be directed to Hospice of MI in David’s Name.