"Mike was one of my best friends since we met at the University of Iowa. He was a cook at Perkins when I started working there as a waiter in 1982. His eventual wife, Sally, later started working at Perkins as a waitress, which is how they met. Mike later became roommates with my girlfriend, Shari, and we spent a lot of time together, going to rock concerts and getting into trouble as college kids and co-workers. I passed my computer class at Iowa thanks to Mike\'s help! I took Mike with me when I had backstage passes to meet Def Lepard when they played at the Five Seasons Center in 1983 and we both always cherished that memory. Too bad neither of us had a camera with us! We saw many other concerts together too, including a road trip to Omaha to see Van Halen in 1984, before I moved to Los Angeles in 1985. :Mike & Sally even came out to L.A. to visit me and a few other friends a couple of years later. I would still see Mike & Sally almost every time I went back to Iowa to visit my parents, often having dinner together at the Ox Yolk Inn in Amana the past several years, because they would drive over from Grimes. I was shocked and saddened to hear of Mike\'s passing and my prayers go out to Sally and their three children."
In loving memory of
Michael Lee Briggs
April 26, 1960 - December 15, 2023
Michael Lee Briggs, 63, of Grimes, Iowa passed away on Friday, December 15, 2023, at Iowa Methodist Hospital. A visitation will be held on Thursday, December 21, 2023, at the Crossroads Community Church, 410 SE Main St., in Grimes from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Immediately following his visitation his funeral service will begin at 2:00 p.m. with Pastor Jenny Seylar officiating. A private family burial will be held at a later date.
Michael was born on a military base in Augsburg, Germany on April 26, 1960, to Robert "Bob" and Connie Kay (Rennick) Briggs. His parents relocated back to the US when he was two. Since his dad was in the Army, over the years the family lived in Arizona, Oregon, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and settled in Shenandoah, Iowa. Michael graduated from Shenandoah High School with the Class of 1978. During his high school he was involved in school plays, was a Thespian, made movies, ran cross country, played freshman football, photography and art. He even had art displayed at the State Capitol in Des Moines. He worked in the fields in Iowa walking beans and detasseling corn, worked for Godfather's Pizza, Hy-Vee, Henry Fields and Earl May. After graduating High School, he attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City where he earned his bachelor's degree in computer science. While attending college, he met the love of his life Sally Woods while working at Perkins. They were married on June 14, 1986 in Sigourney, Iowa. They resided in Iowa City from 1986-1989, then started a family and moved to Washington where they lived from 1990-1999. Then in 1999 built a house in Coralville and lived there until 2011. Over the years Michael worked for NCS, Link USA, Intermec, CBS Market Watch, U-Haul and then Rockwell Collins. In 2012, his family relocated to Grimes where he worked as a Senior Software Engineer at John Deere.
Michael was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, United Methodist Church in Washington and Coralville. He loved spending time with his family, traveling/exploring, Sci-Fi books/movies, Dungeons and Dragons Game Master, volunteering with the Special Olympics, attending ICON conventions, writing, watching storms/stargazing, reading, listening to audio books, photography and attempting to visit all 50 states as he was able to see 49 of them.
Those left to cherish his loving memory are his wife Sally Briggs of 37 years; children Ashley Briggs of Grimes, Jennifer (David) Briggs Eberle of Indianola, and Casey (Makayla) Briggs of West Des Moines; grandchildren Nuada and EmAnimus; sister Barbara Briggs of Oregon; niece and nephew Felisha and Carl Knori of Oregon; Uncle Robert Lau of California; Aunt Nancy Rennick of Oregon; and several other cousins; one sister-in-law; three brother-in-law's and their families.
He was preceded by his parents Bob and Connie Briggs, grandparents Clyde and Ethel Norma (Beck) Briggs, John George and Elizabeth Amy (Elder) Rennick, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Betty (Swanson) Briggs, Aunt Betty Jo (Briggs) Lau; Uncle Melvin Rennick, Uncle Phillip and Aunt Josephine Rennick; and in-laws Edward and Shirley Woods.
Memorial contributions may be directed to his family.
Celebrate Life Iowa has been entrusted with the care of Michael and his family.
Tributes
"Mike was one of my best friends when we were teenagers growing up in Shenandoah Iowa. We met in Junior high and were best friends through high school and our first years at the University of Iowa. Mike was always really funny and loved to take inspiration from Monty Python, Saturday Night Live and the new wave of comedy that was emerging in the 70s. We used to make silly super 8 movies parodying Star Trek and James Bond films and laugh until we were out of breath. A visit to Mike?s house was always full of drama as his dad had been a drill sergeant and would bark commands at the family like they were fresh recruits in the army. Mike knew his Dad was a softy at heart and I was always impressed at how he would get the gruff man to smile. We weren?t particularly good at sports and instead spent a lot of time with nerdy friends, going to classic rock concerts and hanging out at the swimming pool in the summer. Mike was a good chess player and I sensed that one day he would use his high intelligence to carve out a successful career and indeed he did. At the University of Iowa we joined fraternities just as the movie Animal House came out. The less said, the better! I was privileged to be best man at Mike?s wedding to the lovely Sally. Although I moved away from Iowa after two years in Iowa City I loved receiving their Christmas cards and seeing that Mike and Sally had built a wonderful family and Mike had a successful career at John Deere and other companies. I am very saddened that he is gone and will always have the warmest memories of him. - Christopher Gee "
"Lucky for us we met Mike, with Sally in 2019 when we shared our African adventure tour. We were instantly bonded by our love of travel, John Deere and family. We are across the other side of the world but share in the loss of a really good man. Sending our love to Sally, family and friends. Rest easy Mike. Michael and Michelle Snape. Newcastle, Australia."
"Mike was a valued member of my team at Deere for several years. I truly appreciated working alongside him as he an exceptional software engineer, consistently exploring innovative problem-solving approaches. Although I had moved to another group at Deere and hadn\'t seen him in a few years, whenever I returned to the office, our connection was seamlessly rekindled. I am grateful for the opportunity to have had him as a part of our team and to have known him. My heartfelt condolences go out to Sally and the Family. He will be deeply missed. I\'ve included a picture from our trip to Ktown in Germany in 2013, where we took the time to explore and sightsee. It was a great trip."
"I\'ve known Mike since we moved into the house just South/next door to him in 2015. We had a lot in common, as I had worked at John Deere Financial as a Developer, and he was working at JD\'s ISG [Intelligent Solutions Group} as a Developer. We had many talks / conversations / chats about anything and everything, and he always was willing to listen, and help out in any way he could. I tried to do the same for him as well. As time went along, I got to know his children/wife, etc, and became friends to them all. I\'m so sorry for all of your loss! Ughh... I happen to talk to Mike last Thu night, 12/14 as I ran into him heading to our \'block\' mailbox. We talked for about 10 min. as he was explaining his surgery he was going to have that next morning, Fri, 12/15 @ 5:45am, and I was telling him about my upcoming surgery on a tendon in my finger this coming Fri. I remember telling him it was all gonna work out just fine, don\'t worry and wished him good luck / quick recovery and said I would talk to him again soon after the surgery. Ughh... I\'m sad. 63 is way to young! I\'m gonna miss our conversations and his friendship. Life is certainly fragile, and it can\'t be said enough, \"too short\". Times flies, and I\'m thankful I was able to meet / know Mike! He was a great guy with a great Family that loved and cared about him! You will be missede Mike! Dan, Misty & Tyce Plathe [and Maddy our Dog!] :)"
"Michael and I have worked together since the first day he has joined John Deere Ag Management Solutions. He was very knowledgeable and creative engineer who helped the team to overcome challenges and deliver high quality products to Deere customers around the worlds. I am very sorry to hear the sad news and would like to pass my condolences to Michael\'s family."
"Michael was a great colleague who was always willing to listen to and help others; he was a kind person. I have many fond memories of working with him on different projects. I was lucky enough to run into Michael at cardiac rehab recently; it brightened my day to see him again. I am sorry for your loss."
"Michael has been a great and funny colleague. He\'s always willing to help and bounce off idea. I am deeply sorry for your loss, prayers with the family"