Randy Briggs

Randy Lee Briggs was born on July 16th, 1950, to Della Mae Farley and Arthur Lamar Briggs in Salt Lake County, Utah. He passed away on February 22nd, 2025, due to heart failure and a broken heart for the loss of his beautiful bride (September 2008), his mother (July 2023), and his dear brother (February 2025). He passed away peacefully in his sleep.

He graduated from Kearns High School in 1968, in Kearns Utah. Shortly after he graduated high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps on July 10th, 1968. Randy was a Field Artillery Cannoneer and served proudly in the Vietnam War. He loved to talk about his service and his beloved Marine Corps. Aside from his brother Dennis, Randy was probably the most patriotic person that you have ever met. He had a deep and abiding love for his country that spilled out into everything that he did. Randy did not like to see his country or flag disrespected in any way. “LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT of ANYONE WHO THREATENS IT!”

Just after the Vietnam War, Randy met the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on at the Redwood Drive-In. He of course relied on his humor right off the bat upon meeting her. Not only did he cut her car off and take her parking spot, but he later put his finely tuned military skills to work and snuck into the back of their car. The first words this beautiful woman heard from Randy were, “Hey, can you move your head? I can’t see!” As the saying goes…the rest is history!

Randy married Carol on February 11th, 1971. They were later sealed in the Provo Temple in the early Winter of 1974. He often likened their love and relationship to that of a fairy tale. Randy couldn’t believe that this incredible woman said YES! He and Carol dedicated themselves to each other and to raising a family. Their children are: Gayle Briggs Johnson, Jeremy Briggs, and Sarah Scott. Their grandchildren are: Jodi, Ryan, Jessica, Nicholas, Marcus, Kaitlyn, Madeline, Logan, and Cara. Their great-grandchildren are: Archer (Jodi), Tobias (Marcus), and Ryia (Ryan)

Randy has also always been quite the scriptorian. He loved reading the scriptures both by himself and with his family. I remember growing up, he always had extra Book of Mormons on him and he would give them out to people he felt impressed to at work or strangers at a grocery store. 

If you meet Randy, you have probably, at some time in your encounters with him, have either hysterically laughed, rolled your eyes, or sighed at his very witty and weird humor. Here are some examples of that sense of humor from his family:

“Dad took the family out to eat at a restaurant called Big Boys. When we finished our meals, Dad proceeded to tell us kids that he had no money and would have to wash the restaurant dishes to earn money to pay for our meals. He also made us tell our waitress this, as we were crying. The waitress felt so bad; she was crying too. Dad took this joke so far…we even had to put dirty aprons from the restaurant on. We turned around, swallowed our pride, and started to wash dishes when we heard our mom sternly yell, “Oh Randy, that’s enough!”

“Mom, Dad, and I were running errands all morning. We decided to go to McDonalds to eat before we went home. We all ordered our meals, grabbed our food, and sat down at the table to eat. I had not unwrapped my burger yet when the urge to go to the bathroom suddenly arose. I excused myself from the table to go to the bathroom. Upon my return, I sat down at the table and began to unwrap my hamburger. (I can hear Dad’s snicker in my head as I type this.) When I got the wrapper off, I was in shock at what I found next. I’m sure the look on my face was priceless but Dad somehow managed to keep his composure. Dad asked what was wrong with me? I told him that I think one of the McDonald’s employees took a bite out of my hamburger. He told me to go tell the cashier what one of their employees had done and to ask for a new hamburger. As I was trying to explain this to the cashier, I couldn’t figure out why she was laughing. I am now at this point starting to get even more upset because I for one did not find it very funny. When I turned around…my own Father was laughing as well. That’s when it hit me like a foul ball on the head… My dad was the jokester who took a bite out of my hamburger and wrapped it up when I was in the bathroom. He even did it without my Momma knowing. Before I could say anything, I heard my Mom utter the words we heard most often growing up in our household, “Randy, that’s enough!”

“Mom and Dad packed up their blue, 1967 Boat Tail Riviera that they had to go camping with the kids. We think that Mom and Dad may have forgotten to pack some items because all there was to eat was hot dogs. If you can imagine every family and the dog loading up on hot dogs the entire time, well, then you can guess what happened next. YUP! The whole family, even Brutus (Boo Boo) was passing gas. It was at one point so bad; our eyes were watering!” 

“I remember when I was little, Grandpa and Uncle Dennis were visiting our house before they left for Utah. Uncle Dennis took me aside, gave me a dollar, and told me not to tell my Mom. Once Grandpa found out what Uncle Dennis had done, Grandpa then took me aside…gave me a dollar, and then said don’t tell your mom! Before they left that day, we went out to eat for breakfast and they gave me some of their Marine Corps hats. They are one of the reasons why I joined the military.” 

“I loved going to CF with him and getting his paychecks. He would introduce me to all of his friends. A nickname he earned at work and one we often heard was Beast. After we picked up his check, we would always go to Wienerschnitzel to get some chili dogs. He always loved to get extra onions on his. When he came home, he would burp in Momma's direction and would either say guess what we had for lunch or... did you hear that? She hated it when he ate onions.” 

It wasn’t just his kids that he would bestow his quirky humor upon, he often tried to be a jokester to his grandchildren as well. He would often pass gas in a crowded room and say, “Here kitty kitty.” He would ask you if you wanted a burger and then pick his nose for you. Even at restaurants, you never knew what he was going to do. Randy has been known to put straws up his nose, teach the grandchildren to burp and show their food in their mouths. If you told him that you loved him, sometimes he would reply, “I love me too. We had so much fun celebrating his 60th birthday party with him. When I wanted to take everyone’s picture at the restaurant, he turned around and bent over. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he wanted to show everyone his good side.” 

Even during his last days in the hospital, his humor, wit and flirtatious nature were still very much intact. He would tell family members and nurses that he wanted Chapstick. When they asked if he had a preference for what kind he said, “The Rhea kind.” Everyone thought that was a real brand and they asked him what that was and he said, “You know, the diarrhea brand. I guess we walked right into that one! When he went to the bathroom, an alarm on the monitor would sound off. He told the nurses the alarm is going off because he has a hot ass. Even when we as a family tried to talk to him and make sure that he knew what was going on, he said, “Yeah, they are going to take me outside on Monday and shoot me!” The nurses really enjoyed him and often referred to him as a character. 

The very last sentence of the Marine Corps Hymn reads:

 “If the Army and the Navy                                                                                                                                                                                      Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;                                                                                                                                                                           They will find the streets are guarded                                                                                                                                                                     By United States Marines.” 

You left this world thinking about Momma and drinking a diet coke.

Semper Fi Dad! Till we meet again.

Randy is preceded in death by: Carol (wife) Parents (Della and Arthur Briggs) Dennis (Brother) his beloved dogs and many more. I am sure he is having fun with them now as Heaven just gained one heck of an angel!

Funeral Services will be held on: Saturday, March 8th at 10:00 AM

At Memorial Redwood Mortuary

6500 South Redwood Road

West Jordan, Utah 84084

Interment following services at Memorial Redwood Cemetery at the same address.