Alan Briggs

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Meeting ID: 957 3474 4856 Passcode: 465372

Alan Eugene Briggs was born August 13, 1968, to Walter Paul Briggs and Mary Alice Monson Briggs, during the Chicago Vietnam riots, while his mother was typing his father’s history paper for school. Coming into the world that way fed Alan’s insatiable fascination with history. He spent his early years in Sandy, Utah, until the family moved to American Fork, Utah, when he was in fourth grade.

All through school, he loved languages and words. He studied Spanish, German, Russian, French, and Chinese at American Fork High, becoming the Language Sterling Scholar for the school. He attended Utah Valley State College for a year before serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belgium and the Netherlands where he spoke Dutch.

On his return, he enjoyed being a Russian lab instructor at UVSC, where he met the smartest, prettiest girl in the world, Emily Flickinger. He proposed to her in February, and they were married May 24, 1991, in the Jordan River Temple. To their marriage were born three children: Aaron, Joshua, and Afton. Alan found great joy and pride in being a husband and father. He was deeply devoted to his family.

Alan spent many years managing Payless ShoeSource stores and loved training new employees. When life changes pushed him away from that job, he got the wonderful job as an instructional designer at Bridgerland Technical College in Logan, Utah. It was the best job he ever had! On any given day, he supported curriculum in a variety of subjects including welding, auto mechanics, and even cosmetology, and worked with some of the finest people in the world.

When he was 45, Alan discovered the wonder of writing. He said that writing every day saved his life! Over the next 12 years, he published seven books: six fantasy novels and one book of poetry. Ever at his side, even to the end, was his pocket notebook with handwritten notes only he could decipher, and his four-color pen, which was often in his mouth.

Alan was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer (glioblastoma) in November of 2023. He went through all the stages of grief in about 45 seconds. He often said that getting cancer turned into the most powerful blessing he ever received and gave him the best two years of his life. He often regarded his cancer as a “mission with ‘gleeful blastoma.’”

After surgery, he continued working at B-Tech for another full year. Coworkers were amazed that someone on chemo and radiation with terminal cancer would choose to return to work, but Alan did! He inspired others with his always honest and often humorous candor about cancer. He was chosen to be spokesperson for the 2024 Cache Valley Cancer Walk, with the slogan for the walk being one of his unvarnished sayings: “Some parts of cancer are less fun than you think.”

He was also grateful to continue as primary chorister in his ward. Alan loved teaching his primary children to sing, and they loved singing with him. He declared this calling as the “most sacred in the whole church!” He continued doing the things he loved with the people he loved for as long as he could until he was released into his Heavenly Father’s care on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.

He is survived by his wife, Emily, and his three children, Aaron (Nicole Findlay), Joshua, and Afton (Jay Richardson-Beaudreaux), his granddaughter, Lydia, and his seven siblings: Dennis (Cori) Briggs, Karen (Bill) Morgan, Nathan (Caroline) Briggs, Jennifer (Mike) Durham, Joanna Liddell, Erik (Emilie) Briggs, and Clarissa Cartwright.

The funeral service will take place on Friday, October 3, 2025, with a viewing from 10 am to 11:45 am and the funeral at 12 pm. Both the viewing and the funeral will be held at the Nibley 2nd Ward building, located at 130 West 2600 South, Nibley, Utah. Interment will be at the Millville-Nibley Cemetery.