Robin R. Briggs

CAPE ELIZABETH – Robin R. Briggs, 91, of Cape Elizabeth, died Tuesday April 3, 2026 at The Landing at Cape Elizabeth.

Born in Boston, Mass. to the late Gordon Chilson Reardon, Jr. and Hazel Place Thompson, she attended school in Dexter, Maine and Evansville, Ind. before attending Tufts University (Jackson College), in Medford, Mass. where she earned her BA in English in 1956. At Tufts, she met Winton Briggs with whom she was married for 67 years, until his passing in 2023.

From Tufts, Robin and Winton headed to Pittsburgh, Pa. where Robin worked as an administrator in a law firm while her husband attended medical school. In 1960, they moved to Portland where Winton served his internship at the Maine Medical Center. They remained in the Portland area (South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough) except for two years at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (1966-1968), until 2002, when they started splitting time between Scarborough and Vero Beach, Fla. In 2013, they moved full time to Vero Beach, Fla. and then to State College, Pa. in 2016, to be close to their eldest child and her family. Robin moved back to Cape Elizabeth in 2025.

Robin enjoyed singing in the choir at South Portland’s First Congregational Church and volunteering at the Portland Museum of Art and at a thrift shop on Exchange Street. She was a fabulous seamstress and enjoyed crafts and tasks of many kinds: knitting, reupholstering and refinishing furniture, needlepoint, gardening, etc. She loved her tennis and bridge groups and thoroughly enjoyed the Portland Symphony. In later years, she and Winton joyfully hosted and visited children and grandchildren, attended concerts, plays and art shows in Maine and Florida, and enthusiastically traveled multiple times to Europe and once to Australia and New Zealand, a favorite destination.

Robin is survived by three children, Elisabeth B. Nichols (Hod) of South Portland, David W. Briggs of South Portland, and John B. Briggs (Jaelyn) of Brentwood, Tenn.; four grandchildren, Taylor L. Briggs of Knoxville, Tenn., Mae P. Nichols Govere (Nkosi) of Kingston, Ontario, Caroline M. Briggs of Dublin, Ireland, and Jackson W. Briggs of Windham; her sister, Nancy Feldman of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank the incredible staffs at the The Atrium at The Village at Penn State, The Landing at Cape Elizabeth, and Affinity Care Hospice for their compassionate, exceptional care during Robin’s last years.

A memorial celebration for family and friends will be held at a later date.

Donations, in lieu of flowers or gifts, may be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).