WINDHAM – As a pastor’s wife, Elaine Briggs was her husband’s “right hand girl.”
“She definitely filled in not just the gaps,” but roles such as secretary, treasurer, choir director and church pianist, said her husband, Michael Briggs.
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Together, they established the Windham Christian Life Center. She played an integral role in the ministry.
Mrs. Briggs died Saturday. She was 49.
Born and raised in Harvey Station, New Brunswick, Mrs. Briggs graduated from McAdam High School and met her husband while they were both attending Bible college, he said. When he graduated, the couple moved to Maine, his home state.
The couple decided to establish the Windham Christian Life Center because they felt there wasn’t another congregation in the area that held their particular beliefs, her husband said.
In addition to the work they did at the church, Michael Briggs owned Floor Fashions. While he did the floor installations, she ran the business office, he said.
“She scheduled appointments and worked with customers,” he said, which was a position that fit her outgoing personality.
Her daughter Miquele Lewis remembers working in the office with her mother.
“She loved games,” Lewis said, and during quiet times, she would “whip out” Boggle, a 16-dice word game that she kept stored under the desk.
With a vivacious personality, Lewis said, her mother was “one of those people that just loved life.”
She took extra care to make the holidays fun and special for her family. Even as her daughters entered their teenage years, she slipped presents into their stockings and snuck Easter baskets into their room while they slept.
Once Thanksgiving was over, Mrs. Briggs would take out her Christmas decorations and fill the entire house. For years, she gathered items to build a winter village. She also had an extensive snowman collection, Lewis said.
Between her responsibilities at the office and roles with the church, Mrs. Briggs was always busy. Despite that, she made time to walk every morning, said her daughter Jacquelyn Thompson.
“She had different walking buddies at different times, but she also got to know everyone on her walking route,” Thompson said. “She always said hi to everyone (on her walk).”
“She was everybody’s friend,” Thompson said.
Staff Writer Emma Bouthillette can be contacted at 791-6325 or at: ebouthillette@pressherald.com
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