Ruth M. Briggs, Olathe
Obituary | Ruth M. Briggs of Olathe, Kansas | Wilson Family Funeral Home
January 6, 1935 - February 3, 2022
Ruth Marie (Kohr) Briggs, 87, of Olathe, Kansas, passed away peacefully with family at her side on Thursday, February 3, 2022.
Ruth was born on January 6, 1935 to George and Viola (Cooley) Kohr of Salina. As the fifth of eight children, Ruth grew up in a large family in and around the Salina area, graduating from Salina High School in 1953. After high school, Ruth attended Kansas State College graduating in 1957 with a teaching degree in home economics.
During her senior year at K-State, Ruth met the love of her life, Stanley Edward Briggs, her future husband of just a week shy of 62 years and who preceded her in death in 2020.
Ruth’s well known and oft stated goal in life was to “become a teacher and marry either a preacher or a farmer.” She held her first teaching job as a home economics teacher in Marion, Kansas, while engaged to Stanley, a fourth generation Ottawa County farmer. On June 8, 1958, she and Stanley were united in marriage and the newlyweds began their life as husband and wife on the family homestead in Lamar. Ruth began teaching at Delphos High School and the two of them joined the First United Methodist Church of Minneapolis.
Life was never a dull moment for Stanley and Ruth as the two of them worked tirelessly to preserve Stanley’s family farm over the next few years before settling down to have children. Together they expanded the family’s holdings, creating a lasting legacy for their children and grandchildren that continues today, nearly 160 years after its original founding. Ruth was an active participant in all farm operations and supported her husband’s many varied endeavors throughout their long union. Such endeavors included returning to K-State after the birth of their fourth child so Stanley could finish his engineering degree and moving their family of six to various Midwest towns such as Hesston, KS, Bismarck, ND, and Beloit, KS before returning to the area to reside in Minneapolis with their two youngest children in 1981.
While her husband farmed, Ruth was the farm’s bookkeeper, commodity trader, logistics operator, marketing and sales representative, and self described “risk assessment officer, human resources officer and government regulations compliance officer.”
Despite the full plate she had assisting with the operations side of the farm, Ruth was also fully present in the daily lives of her children and took an active role in their many activities and education. She was a dedicated den mother, room mother, carpool driver and party planner among everything else imaginable, always at the ready when need would arise and always with plenty of cookies, Snickers candy bars and pop.
Ruth was an involved member of the Minneapolis First United Methodist Church serving on several committees, teaching Sunday School, preparing children’s sermons, volunteering with Vacation Bible School, cooking for numerous church events and programs such as the widely successful Methodist Church chicken dinners, working the concessions stand at the county fair every summer and nearly every other church-sponsored event.
An avid bridge player, Ruth belonged to multiple bridge groups, both ladies only and with Stan in couple’s bridge. She was an active member of the Minneapolis chapters of EHU, Home Arts Club and PEO. Besides spending time with family and playing bridge, Ruth’s other greatest passions were sewing, especially making her daughter’s formal gowns, baking, attending estate sales, visiting museums, attending community theater, following K-State athletics and reading. She was quick to remind her children that she “read a book a day” and books were stashed and stacked in every corner of her house. It was not uncommon to visit Ruth sitting in her recliner with her book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Her passion for reading led her to become a trustee for the Minneapolis Library, a position with which she held in high esteem. Members of the Minneapolis community might also remember Ruth for the years she spent as the receptionist for local dentist, Dr. Fred Hargis.
Later in life, Ruth and Stan watched their four children marry and have children of their own. Ruth instantly became the world’s most enthusiastic grandma in 1990 when her first grandchild was born. Soon followed more boys and later even more Briggs boys! Her five grandsons kept her busy with their tornado like energy building forts, playing army, digging in the dirt with all the many Tonka farm toys and wrestling throughout her house – none of it forbidden and all of it very much to the delight of their doting grandma. In the mid-2000s, her next wave of grandchildren were born adding three beautiful granddaughters to the family, each of whom enthusiastically shared Grandma’s joy of baking, teatime with fancy china and dress up. Her grandchildren knew that what happens at Grandma’s, stays at Grandma’s and her home - full of sweet treats, toys that may or may not be allowed in their own home, and big grandma hugs - was the most magical of places for all eight grandchildren. Of all her titles, positions, and roles, it was being grandma that brought her the most joy and for which she is most revered.
As Ruth and Stan’s children spread their wings throughout the country, Ruth and Stan travelled to visit them. From nearby places like Oklahoma and Missouri to further away places such as Idaho, Minnesota, Florida, Seattle, Phoenix, Connecticut, Texas and even China, Ruth and Stan committed to visiting each of the kids every year, delighting in touring new sights and experiencing new cultures.
Ruth leaves behind her four children, David (Carla) of Raymore, Mo, Bradley (Lori) of St. Paul, Minnesota, Andrew (Lori) of Kay, Tx, Cynthia (Mauricio) of Sammamish, WA, eight grandchildren, one great-grandson, her sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Larry Darrow of Salina, sister-in-law Delores Kohr (nee Barefield) of Salina and many loving nephews and nieces.
Visitation will be Monday, February 7, 2022 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.. at Wilson Funeral Home, 405 Argyle, Minneapolis. Funeral service for Ruth will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the funeral home. Internment will immediately follow at Hall Cemetery, Delphos, KS.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Minneapolis or Minneapolis Public Library and may be mailed to Wilson Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 166, Minneapolis, KS 67467.
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