Dr. Earland “Earl” Briggs, a long-time resident and “town dentist” of Marion, left us on September 27th at the ripe old age of 98. Within a few weeks of his death, he was still enjoying lobster rolls, chocolate-coconut cake, and playing “noodle tennis” at his assisted living facility in Boca Raton, Florida.
Earl was the youngest of four children born in North Anson, Maine, to his Canadian parents, Adam and Gertrude Briggs. Arriving 10 years after his previous sibling, the bundle of joy probably came as a surprise. His father died tragically when Earl was only three, and his mother succumbed to cancer when he was ten, so his big sister Alice (Briggs) Halle and husband Arthur along with their four children became his family.
Despite these difficult beginnings in rural Maine, Earl excelled in school. His intelligence, curiosity, athletic ability, and work ethic earned him a spot at Bowdoin College. To pay his way through school he harvested lumber on his uncle’s land, made and sold statues of Maine bears to college visitors, and washed dishes at his fraternity, Theta Delta Chi. Organic chemistry almost derailed his pre-med track, he claimed, but perseverance led to his acceptance into the Tufts School of Dental Medicine. After graduating with a DMD in 1954, he worked at Gouverneur Hospital in New York City before serving in the Navy at the base in Bainbridge, MD. During those two years he didn’t see any ships or the ocean, he said, just lots of teeth. Many of his military patients had never been to a dentist before. And while on a brief leave, he attended a party where he met his beloved wife of 57 years, Jean (Parkinson) Briggs. While searching for a place to establish Earl’s dental practice, Jean showed Earl around the area near her hometown of Fairhaven, Mass. When Earl saw Marion, he knew they’d found their place to settle.
Earl’s and Jean’s first child, Jennifer, arrived in 1957, followed by their son, Adam in 1961. While Earl’s dental practice thrived, he served on several town boards and committees, and the couple became active members of the Sippican Tennis Club, Beverly Yacht Club, and Kittansett Golf Club. The family enjoyed skiing many winter weekends and exploring the beautiful but challenging waters of Buzzards Bay and beyond, sometimes learning the ins and outs of cruising the hard way. Earl had a severe case of boat fever: he was always tinkering with his succession of vessels and always eyeing the next bigger and better one. Eventually becoming a proficient navigator, he was invited to guide several Marion-Bermuda races and taught courses for the Power Squadron program.
Earl retired from dentistry in 1988, selling Marion Dental Health Associates to his long-time partner, Dr. Bill Hoye. Earl embraced retirement with gusto – he and Jean traveled the world, became Florida snowbirds so they could play golf and tennis all winter, and visited their children’s families at the drop of a hat. His creative juices also found new outlets, as he ramped up jewelry making using his skills in casting gold dental pieces, and his paintings sported a bold palette of colors. When Jean was diagnosed with ALS, Earl lovingly cared for her day and night until her death in 2011. Not long afterward, Earl met and fell in love with Mimi O’Leary, and they were married in 2013 while in his 86th year. Over the following decade, they continued to enjoy an active life in Marion during summer and Florida in winter.
Earl was predeceased by his wife Jean E. (Parkinson) Briggs, his second wife Mimi (Petersen, O’Leary) Briggs, and his grandson, Tucker Francis. He is survived by his daughter Jennifer Francis and husband Peter of Marion and their daughter Holly, and by his son Adam Briggs and wife Margaret of Manchester, MA and their sons Benjamin and Timothy. A celebration of life will be held in summer 2027.
In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to the Sippican Lands Trust where Earl volunteered for many years: online at https://sippicanlandstrust.org/ or by mail to P.O. Box 848, Marion MA 02738.
