Mrs. Opal Fern Briggs, 79, Topeka, died Sunday, September 11, 1988, at a Topeka nursing home.
Mrs. Briggs and her husband owned and operated a cafe in North Topeka from 1945-1947, then operated the Throop Hotel Coffee Shop until 1950. They later owned and operated the Samaritan Home 36 years before they retired in 1985.
She was born July 12, 1909, at Scranton, the daughter of Alfa Alma and Olive Gertrude Markley-Nicolay. She lived in Dodge City from 1927 until she moved to Topeka in 1945.
Mrs. Briggs was a charter member of Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene.
She was married to Raymond R. Briggs September 2, 1926, in Topeka. He survives. A son, Byron A. Briggs, died in infancy.
Other survivors include six daughters. Mrs. Aletha Bevens, Mrs. Doretha Williamson, Mrs. Charlotte Gibson, Mrs. Janice Bartley, and Mrs. Iris Turner, all of Topeka, and Mrs. Charlene Cooper, Kansas City, MO.; a son, Raymond E. Briggs, Sedona, Ariz.; four sisters, Anna Belle Mundy, Betty Spinelli, and Melba Goodwin, all of Topeka, and Mrs. Oddlene Gordinier, Ozawkie; two brothers, Leonard Nicolay and Ervin Nicolay, both of Topeka. 23 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene. Burial will be in Topeka Cemetery. Relatives and friends will meet from 7 until 8 p.m. today at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene, 3501 Wanamaker Road 66614.
Published in the Topeka Capital Journal on Tuesday, September 13, 1988
Mrs. Opal Fern Briggs, 79, Topeka, died Sunday, September 11, 1988, at a Topeka nursing home.
Mrs. Briggs and her husband owned and operated a cafe in North Topeka from 1945-1947, then operated the Throop Hotel Coffee Shop until 1950. They later owned and operated the Samaritan Home 36 years before they retired in 1985.
She was born July 12, 1909, at Scranton, the daughter of Alfa Alma and Olive Gertrude Markley-Nicolay. She lived in Dodge City from 1927 until she moved to Topeka in 1945.
Mrs. Briggs was a charter member of Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene.
She was married to Raymond R. Briggs September 2, 1926, in Topeka. He survives. A son, Byron A. Briggs, died in infancy.
Other survivors include six daughters. Mrs. Aletha Bevens, Mrs. Doretha Williamson, Mrs. Charlotte Gibson, Mrs. Janice Bartley, and Mrs. Iris Turner, all of Topeka, and Mrs. Charlene Cooper, Kansas City, MO.; a son, Raymond E. Briggs, Sedona, Ariz.; four sisters, Anna Belle Mundy, Betty Spinelli, and Melba Goodwin, all of Topeka, and Mrs. Oddlene Gordinier, Ozawkie; two brothers, Leonard Nicolay and Ervin Nicolay, both of Topeka. 23 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene. Burial will be in Topeka Cemetery. Relatives and friends will meet from 7 until 8 p.m. today at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene, 3501 Wanamaker Road 66614.
Published in the Topeka Capital Journal on Tuesday, September 13, 1988
Gravesite Details
W/O Raymond Briggs
Family Members
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Raymond Earl Nicolay
1910–1910
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Oliver George Nicolay
1911–1973
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Mervin Daniel Nicolay
1913–2004
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Arnold Alfa Nicolay
1915–1918
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Leonard Melvin Nicolay
1917–2012
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Anna Belle Nicolay Mundy
1919–2004
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Oragene Irene Nicolay
1922–1927
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Oddlene Elizabeth Nicolay Gordinier
1924–2012
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Melba Mae Nicolay Goodwin
1934–2022
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