Charles Edward Briggs Jr.

Formerly residing in Chagrin Falls, he is survived by his beloved wife of 20 years, Jeanne Fredrichs; brother, Tom Briggs of Denver Colorado; daughter, Laura VonStein, of Kent, Ohio.

While an underclassman at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., in 1961, and working with the Bureau of Weapons (BUWEPS) in Washington, D.C., he developed one of the first military laser devices in the U.S., and later trained with some of the men who became the original Seal Team 2, at Little Creek, Virginia. Following his time in the Navy, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from The University of Tennessee, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

After graduation, he joined Briggs Brother's Advertising, advertising in Cleveland Ohio. As a result of his subsequent 50-year career in advertising, he included among his close friends, newspaper greats that included Jacque Caldwell, (Scripps Howard Newspapers), Larry Sartory (Cox Newspapers) Frank Savino, (Emerson, N.J.), Dave Biehoff, (Block Newspapers), Ken Carlson, (Detroit News), and Jerry Burton, (Jacksonville, Fla.).

Charlie's hobbies included sports car racing, snow and water-skiing, white-water rafting and kayaking, scuba diving, big game hunting, fishing, gunsmithing, and competing in both chili and BBQ cookoffs. In his last few years, he became a full-time gunsmith, and was a frequent columnist for American Gunsmith Magazine.

In lieu of flowers he asked that donations be made to Tunnels 2 Towers, and/or The Wounded Warriors Project.