Warren Briggs, 85, passed away peacefully on August 8, 2019 at his home in Marion, MA. His family and friends will always remember him for his clever wit, irrepressible sense of adventure, and his willingness to march to his own drummer.
Warren Grover Briggs was born on August 6, 1934 and grew up assisting his father on the Briggs’ Poultry Farm in Mansfield, MA. A quick study, Warren excelled at school and received a BS in Business and Engineering Administration from MIT (’56), an MBA from the Harvard Business School (’59) and a Phd in Operations Research from MIT'(’64) while also working at Corning Glass Works, the Rand Corporation and the US Army’s Aberdeen Proving Grounds. He married his former German professor at MIT, Renata Hofman, in 1961 and settled in Wellesley, MA where they raised three children while Warren worked as a consultant for Harbridge House.
In 1969, desiring a more balanced family life, Warren joined the faculty at Northeastern University, where he chaired the new Management Science group. He subsequently taught at Bentley College and Northeastern’s MBA program in Athens Greece, and MIT’s Sloan School. In 1979, Warren joined the Suffolk University Business School, where he founded and chaired the Computer Information Systems department. Warren taught at Suffolk for 32 years and was beloved for his dynamic lecturing style and for leading Executive MBA trips with his wife Renata to China and Argentina.
Warren and Renata moved to Marion, MA in 1988, where he continued to enjoy his beloved “village life” for many years after his wife, Renata, passed away in 2002. Warren was an avid fly fisherman, hunter, “tinkerer”, collector of duck decoys and world traveller. He traveled far and wide, from Patagonia to New Zealand to Scotland to the Caribbean, always in search of the best fly-fishing spots. He even ventured to the Arctic to see polar bears. Locally, Warren spent his time volunteering for the Marion Congregational Church and various Harvard and MIT reunion committees. He cherished his time boating on Marion Harbor, hunting with his various chocolate labs and fishing with a group of loyal buddies with whom he regularly gathered. He was truly an independent spirit – a practical New Englander who loved to “think outside the box” and who was curious about everything. Anyone who knew him has an antic or two of Warren’s that they could describe.
Warren Briggs was predeceased by his wife, Renata Hofman Briggs (2002) and sister Carol Briggs Ten Broeck (2016). He will be sorely missed by his children and their respective spouses, Rolf (Barbara), Wyman (Laura) and Monica (Stef), as well as his three granddaughters, Elizabeth, Allison and Katherine Briggs, and his devoted caregivers and family friends, Linell Dean and Steve Scanlon.
A service in celebration of Warren’s rich and adventurous life will be held at the First Congregational Church in Marion on Saturday, September 7th at 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Marion Congregational Church. For online guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
