On paper, John Edward Briggs lived from 1947 until January 11, 2026. In life, Jack Briggs, history teller, third-grade teacher extraordinaire, adoring father and grandfather, and thoughtful loving husband, lived a beautiful life that everyone wishes was longer. Whatever he knew, he could share with others in a way that made any history easier to understand, any book more meaningful, and any gem of family lore more vivid. He enjoyed literary wit, from Shakespeare to crossword puzzles, and he knew the value of the Oxford comma.
Jack was a graduate of Swarthmore College (BA 1970, Honors in History), Simmons College (Master of Arts in Teaching, 1971), and the University of Pennsylvania (PhD in Education, 1996, with a focus in Reading, Writing, and Literacy). He was a grade-school teacher at Atlantic City Friends School, Greene Street Friends School, and most notably, Friends’ Central School in Wynnewood, PA. As a third-grade teacher at Friends’ Central for 37 years, Jack made math fun by writing word problems about used chewing gum and old bananas. He and his students constructed a large working water wheel, a Wright Flyer with wing controls for a student pilot, and Odysseus’s ancient ship large enough to hold his entire third-grade class, to name just a few of the incredible classroom projects he undertook each year with his students. Every spring he erected a tepee in his room and all of his students would sit within it while telling stories such as “How Coyote Stole the Fire.”
The expertise, creativity, and thoughtfulness Jack brought to his classroom were sought out by other professionals. He was an educational consultant and workshop leader. He researched, wrote, and edited study guides and lesson plans for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the American Friends Service Committee. He and a coworker painted a map of the world on a school blacktop, crafting a guide for other teachers who wanted to make geography more engaging.
In addition to teaching and consulting, Jack pursued a side career as a History Teller. His storytelling and living history programs involved full costumes and props so that he could welcome his audience into an era during which his stories might have been told. In his programs he portrayed a medieval knight, a pirate, a mountain man, a colonial peddler, a Civil War soldier, and Orville Wright, to name but a few of his roles.
One of his most important roles, though, was that of being a dad. He raised Jenny from birth, and he had room in his heart and home to make life better for another child, adopting Brian.
Jack’s passion for his family was felt in the present and extended to the past, especially as it pertained to the role his ancestors played in the American Revolution. Several relatives fought and died at the Jason Russell House in Menotomy (now Arlington), Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775, the day that is famous for the battle of Lexington and Concord but spanned many miles and took many lives. For years he researched, read, and wrote diligently, pouring his heart into his novel, Running to Lexington, which will be published posthumously.
Jack Briggs passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, January 11, 2026. He was the son of Bernard E. and Mary Elizabeth “Betty” (Morris) Briggs, born in Milford, Delaware in 1947.
Predeceased by his parents and sister-in-law Nancy Crane, he is survived by his wife Cinda Crane, his son Brian Briggs of Wilmington, DE, his daughter Jennifer Briggs (Carl Wellington) of Pittsburgh, PA, his granddaughters Sarah and Amy, and his brother Bob Briggs of Washington, DC. He will be greatly missed by his immediate family and by the extended family that delighted in his tales, humor, and ability to speak in a Donald Duck voice.
Jack’s classroom stages for his student plays always had a trapdoor. If we consider Shakespeare’s claim that all the world’s a stage, then rather than shuffling off this mortal coil, perhaps Jack exited via the trapdoor, and we will catch up with him in the next act.
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