Ronald Briggs

Ron Briggs was born in Houston, Texas on October 11, 1940 to parents Frank and Nell Briggs. It was rumored, by his parents, that his middle name was Balinger but since it was left off his birth certificate, he denied it with impunity. Growing up, he lived in Texas, Colombia and Peru. His father worked for Brown & Root and was often sent for work to far-flung places around the globe. Ron and his brother, Frank, spent part of high school in a military academy in San Marcos while his parents and sister, Carolyn, were stationed in Indonesia. There was a famous family vacation in Bali. Ron and his brother were looking forward to seeing the native women, famous for walking around topless. They were disappointed that the only topless native they saw was an old crone. Somehow a portrait of a young, topless native woman made it back to the states. The portrait hung for years in his parent’s house in West Columbia in a prominent place. His dad claimed later in life that he used to hang a bra on it when sensitive folk would visit, but none of the grandchildren can recall ever seeing such pandering.

Ron graduated from high school in White Plains, New York. He attended the University of California, Berkeley during the 60’s. While there, he studied Russian literature and terrorized his grandparents by having a copy of the Russian communist newspaper, Pravda, delivered to their house weekly.

After graduating from UC Berkely with a degree in physics, he served two years in the army at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma as First Lieutenant. After his discharge, he received a masters in business administration from the University of Oklahoma. He met Heidy Osorio on a blind date. He actually stood her up and sent his friend to check her out. The friend bored her to sleep playing cards and reported back that the Panamanian was quiet, not realizing she had stayed awake the previous night studying. Imagine Ron's surprise when they went out and she talked his head off. They married December 17, 1964. He survived 54 years of marriage and being reminded that he stood her up.

He worked for Hardees Hamburgers as a system analyst. When his grandmother, Wuver, heard, she asked him, “Honey, are you cooking them?” He worked at IBM, Datapoint, Data General, and Lucent. His favorite company was Datapoint which rewarded the salespeople who met their quota with company trips to Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and other beautiful locales. One of the highlights of his career was winning a Mercedes in a top salesman contest.

Ron was an outstanding husband and father. He enjoyed going out to eat with his family and waited ever so patiently while Heidy would take her time at the end of each meal finishing a cigarette and a glass of wine. His arrival home from work was greatly anticipated by his children. He was often greeted with shouts of joy - not to mention being smothered by kisses. He always treated his children with kindness. Sometimes, he would perform stealth operations and sneak one out to "get gas" (code for ice cream or frozen yogurt) to avoid being chastised by Heidy. In addition, he endured countless hours of mind-numbing dance recitals. He was always faithful to attend his daughters' many performances - without ever a complaint! His grandchildren adored him as well. Ron spent many hours entertaining his beautiful granddaughter Lexi during her younger years, patiently playing with “the girls” as he called her dolls. Plus, his eyes would always light up when he had a visit from his grandson Jayden, who describes his Papi as being "so, so, so, so nice."

Ron liked reading, classical music, and word puzzles. For many years, you could find him in the early morning hours walking for miles in the neighborhood park. Besides some good walking buddies, he greatly enjoyed the company of his neighbors. If you couldn’t find him at home during cocktail hour, he was at Sandy and Peter’s house, his next door neighbors.

In 2011, his kidneys began to fail. With frequent trips to the dialysis clinic, the whole family became deeply indebted to all the wonderful nurses. One nurse in particular, Phyllis McDonald, consistently went above the call of duty. She actually came out to the house late one Saturday night while she was babysitting her 6 month old grandson to help. When he could no longer walk or stand, she would come out to the house rather than make him take an ambulance to the clinic. She frequently came by after work to drop off medical supplies and led the way through the bureaucratic maze that is medicare.

Ron passed away on February 24th where he wanted to be - at home with his faithful wife Heidy, who performed multiple daily dialysis treatments and took care of all his physical needs day and night for over 3 years as his health continued to decline.

Ron is survived by his wife Heidy, daughters Mary Ann and Jennifer, grandchildren Lexi and Jayden, and siblings Frank and Carolyn.