BRIGGS, TRUEMAN DONALD "DON", 72 , of El Dorado, KS,  was born June 10, 1950 on his family's farm northwest of Burlingame, Kansas. He was the youngest of six children born to Trueman and Mabel (Sutter) Briggs. He passed away at Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice in Wichita, Kansas on May 17, 2023 at the age of 72 after a brief, but courageous fight against cancer.

Don grew up working on his family's farm milking cows, caring for baby pigs, and working summer harvest, sometimes driving a horse-drawn wagon. He learned to drive a truck on the farm at the age of 5.

Don graduated from Washburn Rural High School in 1968 where he sang in the choir, played basketball, and played baritone sax in an ensemble called The Skimpy Dozen. He graduated from Washburn University in Topeka in 1972 with a major in Physics. After graduation, he taught science and math and coached basketball at Santa Fe Trail High School in Overbrook, Kansas. On July 17, 1976, he married Freda Ingle and they moved to El Dorado where Don taught and coached at El Dorado Middle School until his retirement in 2010. Many of his former students still talk about their favorite science experiments and the occasional blowing things up in class. He encouraged his students relentlessly and helped them realize what they were capable of. It was his joy through the years to run into former students or their parents in El Dorado and surrounding areas.

Don became known and trusted in El Dorado for his work ethic and his principles. He took on various jobs in his downtime to help support his family. These jobs included refereeing basketball, painting houses, working at his church, remodeling and building homes, preparing taxes, and doing home inspections. At one time, he had an early morning paper route for the Wichita Eagle and worked evenings at Bradford Memorial Library. He also frequently expanded his garden by putting in far more tomatoes than Freda knew what to do with. Sweet corn was his "baby," and he loved sharing it, as well as other excess produce. He also enjoyed reading—mostly history, exploration stories, and historical fiction--and solving puzzles: word puzzles, number puzzles, and jigsaw puzzles. He loved connecting with family members and planning trips. When his son Alex was in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan in 2006, he enjoyed the process of what it took to get him and Freda there to visit.

Don joined the Gideon organization in 1995, attracted not only by the mission of the Gideons, but by the integrity of the men who were part of the organization. He worked tirelessly to support the organization's goal of getting God's Word into the hands of those who don't have a Bible, not only in this country, but around the world. In evenings, he often sat in his chair with a writing board across his lap, corresponding with pastors and churches who had let a Gideon speaker come. He not only spoke in churches to garner support, he made sure he knew the pastors of those churches by often taking them to lunch, and was familiar with a church congregation before he or another Gideon went into the church to speak. He also participated in the jail ministry of the Gideons. His joy was to hand out Bibles, easily striking up conversations with those to whom he handed a small New Testament.

When Freda and Don married in 1976, they joined the First Baptist Church in El Dorado and were soon asked to be youth leaders. Over the years, Don served in a number of capacities: he taught Sunday School, went on mission trips and to camps, was church moderator for several terms, and served on a number of committees.

Don and Freda had 4 children: Bruce (1978-2014), Roger (1980), Alex (1982), and Catherine (1985). The family frequently took summer vacations to visit far-flung relatives and to see national monuments. Don packed everyone into the family's station wagon with a luggage topper, and the family wore matching bright t-shirts to be sure to spot each other in a crowd. The kids did not always appreciate this.

Don took his titles as Dad and "Grampy" very seriously. He instilled in his kids and grandkids his same value of hard work while still having fun. He dressed up in Halloween costumes, built tennis ball launchers, mowed a giant baseball field into their property north of town, and cheered on all his children and grandchildren—and kids who weren't his—at athletic events and concerts.

He loved astronomy and enjoyed having anyone come to his home, young or old, who would look at the moon and the stars with him through his telescope.

Don is preceded in death by his parents and oldest son Bruce (1978-2014). He is survived by his wife Freda of El Dorado; siblings Geneva MacMillian of Eden Prairie, MN, Ruth Prall (Clay) of Sterling, CO, Fred Briggs of Lindsborg, Truema Burks of Colorado Springs, CO, and Ella Hafenstein (Tom Arkwright) of Mansfield, OH; children Roger Briggs (Lorrie) of Elbing, Alex Briggs (Angela) of Trophy Club, TX, Catherine Briggs of Wichita, and daughter-in-law Teri Briggs Burt of Shawnee; grandchildren Madison, Jackson, Hudson, Charlotte, Maddox, Gideon, Stella, and Bennett Briggs; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, all of whom he cherished.

A Celebration of Life will be held at First Baptist Church in El Dorado on June 10, 2023 at 10 am. Memorial gifts may be made on his behalf to The Gideons International, PO Box 652 El Dorado, KS. 67042 or to Gideons.org. or to El Dorado Partners in Education at pie490.org.