Garnett Eileen (Lefler) Briggs was born on June 23, 1923 to Earl Lefler and Myra Ethel (Evans) Lefler near Blandonsville, IL. Initially the young family resided with her aunt in a country home near the Macomb Cemetery but in due time the young family moved into Macomb proper. Garnett was an only child and remembers fondly growing up with a little dog that she affectionately called Mickey. Her father worked as an Ice deliverer and her mother worked in a factory. She remembers her little family teaching her from a young age who Jesus was and showing her, by example, how to follow Him in obedience. Her parents were part of a group of young people who met on Sundays in the basement of a retail store while they grew their church. At the age of 7, she too wanted to make her commitment known to follow Jesus. By her late teens, her desire to follow Jesus was so strong that she applied to attend Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. There she met and fell in love with an elevator assistant, Robert Eugene Briggs. The couple was so in love, but with determination kept the strict ordinances for couples at the conservative school where they were attending. The very first summer after graduating (1944) they married, and within a couple years they had welcomed their first son, Daniel Earl. A couple years later they welcomed another son, Stephen Eugene. Two days after Stephen's first birthday, their first son died after complications from a tonsillectomy. She was 26 years old when she buried her first child. At the age of 27 they welcomed a daughter, Rebecca Eileen after a very complicated pregnancy. Mid-way through the pregnancy they determined that the child was carrying a negative blood type. (This is known as RH disease. When the mother has a positive blood type, the mothers antibodies pass through the placenta and destroy red blood cells in the unborn child.)
As the young family grew, Robert was completing his seminary schooling and beginning his first few years in a pastorate in Michigan. They pastored three different churches in Michigan before accepting a call to First Baptist in Belvidere, Illinois. During this time, Garnett played the piano for the choir and helped with hospitality and bible study fellowship in each of the churches they were involved in growing. She also held a position of secretary in the local elementary school. They pastored First Baptist in Belvidere for 3 years before transitioning to the Minister of World Mission Support at the Great Rivers Region in Springfield, Illinois in 1968. When they arrived in Springfield, they were in their late 40's and both of their children had married and in a short time, they had one granddaughter, Heather Erin Briggs. Shortly after, Garnett's father died after complications from a gall-bladder surgery in 1971. In their move to Springfield they joined and became active in Central Baptist Church; a congregation that they have maintained their membership in until their deaths. A special ministry that she led at Central was the Guild Girls; this was a group that edified and bonded young women in their mid to late teens. For about 12 years, Garnett worked for Thomas Publishing as a typist. This income allowed them the opportunity to rapidly pay off their very first mortgaged home, on Lynnhaven Dr. They were very proud of their first home and curated it for many years until Reverend Robert Briggs death in 2009.
They welcomed three more grandchildren between 1973-1979: Rachel Eileen, David William and Barry Ryan. In 1997 and 2007, they welcomed two more grandchildren: Matthew Alderson and Avery Nicole. At the turn of the millennium, they purchased a small trailer and became part of the summer community on the grounds of the Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, Wisconsin. They maintained that residence for over eight years. Within a 10-year time span (2000-2010), they welcomed 11 great grandchildren. Each of their children, and grandchildren they faithfully led to a saving knowledge of Jesus and they worked tirelessly in expressing their faith to their great-grandchildren as they could understand such things. She understood life to be a gift and in this way, steadily and earnestly gave it away. In one of my last interactions with her, at the rich age of 94 she was bedridden and very sleepy. After some time sleeping, she turned to me and said, "Am I dreaming? That was a wonderful story." And I said, "yes, Grandma it was so wonderful." And she responded, "but it is still a wonderful story." And I smiled because her face had warmed, and she looked radiant. And then she said, "And we are going to keep going over it, over and over and over again." And I thanked God that somehow in his mercy I had got to be part of her story; her beautiful story. And not just to be a part of it, but to know that at the end, it was that story that God was using to nudge her through that veil that we all stand in front of and pass through into her eternal state. If you are reading this, you too are part of her beautiful story and the living of it was so stunning that she was running her fingers through it right to the very end.
Rachel Matheson Ommen
November 10, 2017
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