Perry L. Briggs Sr., member of the Walker Sports Hall of Fame, dies at 92
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 9/2/2021, 6 p.m.
Perry Lee Briggs Sr., a former football star at Maggie Walker High School and Virginia Union University, has died.
A Richmond native who grew up in the Newtown section of the city, Mr. Briggs died Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. He was 92.
Final tributes were paid to Mr. Briggs during a funeral Friday, Aug. 27, at Garland Avenue Baptist Church. Dr. Lance Watson, senior pastor of St. Paul’s Baptist Church, delivered the eulogy.
Mr. Briggs, who played quarterback, was best known for leading Walker’s Green Dragons to victory over archri- val Armstrong High School in the Armstrong-Walker Classic in the 1940s. He was inducted into the Maggie Walker Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
Mr. Briggs also was VUU’s starting quarterback for several years.
He later worked in a tobacco factory and as a supervisor at the Wonder Bread bakery before retiring.
Mr. Briggs was a life-long member of St. Paul’s Baptist Church, where he served as an usher, deacon and trustee and also sang in the church’s choirs. He was a founding member of St. Paul’s Male Chorus.
He was predeceased by his wife of 59 years, Dahlia Yates Briggs.
Survivors include his daughter, Diane B. Bacon; two sons, Perry Briggs Jr. and Robert Briggs Sr.; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
