Kent Briggs Obituary

Robert Kent Briggs

1941 - 2024

Salt Lake City, Utah-

Robert Kent Briggs was a beloved family member, friend to many and one of the nation's leading experts in western states public policy. He died of complications of Alzheimer's disease on April 19, 2024, at the age of 82.

Kent was born on July 9, 1941 in Burley, Idaho to John and Ruth Briggs. The oldest of five, he was raised on a small farm where he and his brothers and sister tended the livestock and worked the fields from a young age. Kent graduated from Carey High School in 1959 and enrolled at Idaho State University (ISU) the same year. He left ISU to complete a two-year Latter-day Saint mission in Raleigh, North Carolina, then returned to ISU to finish his bachelor's degree. While at ISU Kent discovered his passion for politics and became student body president during his senior year. For his campaign slogan, he quoted Abraham Lincoln, "a house divided cannot stand". Once elected, he worked to find common ground between the student body, faculty and staff.

Shortly after graduating from ISU in 1966, Kent went to work on U.S. Senator Frank Church's re-election campaign. He was assigned to organize the campaign in a predominately Republican district in Southern Idaho. Owing to his leadership, every county in the district voted for Senator Church, a Democrat.

In 1969, while pursuing a graduate degree in political science at University of Utah, Kent received a national fellowship from the American Political Science Association. As a fellow, he worked for Utah Governor Cal Rampton, where he learned the ropes of the executive branch of state government. In 1971 Rampton asked Kent to serve as the Executive Director of the Utah Democratic Party, a position Kent held for two years. While there, he completed his M.A. degree from University of Utah in Public Policy & Public Administration. Kent then returned to Rampton's office as Chief of Staff, working closely with the Governor on civil rights legislation and increased funding for Utah public schools.

In 1976, Kent worked on Utah Governor Scott Matheson's campaign and then joined Matheson's team as head of federal-state relations. During the Governor's second term, he served as Chief of Staff. Kent was respected and beloved by people of all political persuasions and known for his Churchillian quotes, standing-O speechwriting and ability to unravel many a Gordian knot on behalf of the Governor. He built a top-notch staff and together with the Governor they worked to manage the state's rapid growth, prevent Utah from becoming a dumping ground for nuclear waste, negotiate with the federal government to swap and consolidate hundreds of land parcels for mining and recreation, and increase public education funding, particularly vocational education.

After leaving the Matheson administration, Kent co-founded a public policy think tank in Denver, Colorado – Center for the New West. He finished his career as Executive Director of the non-partisan Council of State Governments (CSG) – West, where he convened state legislators, governors and other elected officials from throughout the west on vital issues of the day. Kent retired from CSG after 15 years, at age 70.

Kent received numerous awards and accolades over his long career but will be most remembered by his friends and family for his energy and enthusiasm, loving heart, caring presence and generosity. He was a mentor to many and will be deeply missed.

Kent is survived by two brothers, Patrick and Johnny Briggs (Pocatello, Idaho), as well as nephews Richard Merrill (Pocatello), Nathan Briggs (Portland, Oregon) and nieces Chantel Stanley (Twin Falls, Idaho), Julieta Briggs (Pocatello), Terra Larsen (Pocatello), Cynthia Tennant (Pocatello), and Angela Vietri (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho).

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Alzheimer's Association, www.alz.org, which has local chapters in every state.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Salt Lake Tribune, The Salt Lake Tribune from Apr. 24 to Apr. 28, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for Kent Briggs

9 Entries

Lolita

January 13, 2025

Dear Kent, Thank you for sharing your life with me. You were truly a mentor, and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to share this journey with you. You will always remain in my loving prayers. With Love,

Marjorie Lin Kyriopoulos

July 24, 2024

I´m so sorry to hear that Kent is no longer with us. He was a great friend and I respected him so much as a political mentor. He was a storyteller with a bright mind who was able to analyze motives and movements of politicians. I so wish he was here today to witness President Biden´s amazing grace. Maybe he´s watching the drama now with Governor Ramsey. May you rest in peace, my friend.

Terrie DeMill Buhler

May 15, 2024

Terrie DeMill Buhler

I met Kent Briggs in the summer of 1969 when I was placed in the Political Science Department in a work-study position as I began attending the University of Utah. His sparkling brown eyes and continually positive demeanor made him a great favorite with everyone. But it was his intelligence, his ability to understand and discuss what was happening in the world, and respect for what others were saying, that drew people to him and they always wanted to hear his opinion. He was a popular teacher and a popular graduate student at the same time. My bright sister took a class from him and came home laughing the day this Idaho boy drew the State of Utah on the chalkboard with the notch on the top left instead of right side. People often threw their heads back laughing at something he said. But they always wanted to talk to him. He made lifelong friends there in Political Science among students such as Jim Bradley and professors like Robert Huefner. Kent adored the University of Utah and his associations there. (We had lunch or breakfast together many times over the years and we always tried to strategically seat him with his back to the public so no one would spot him and join us!)

Kent loved the summers he spent painting air markers in Idaho for the Idaho Department of Aeronautics with friends Brad Foltman, Ted Wilcox and his Howard cousins, Jimmy and Lee. He would come back to Political Science in the fall with fun stories like helping someone strengthen their chicken coop roof as it was the largest structure in that small town and so had the honor of receiving the yellow painted block letters spelling out the town´s name. The painting crew got the same money for long names like Mountain Home as they did for short names like Moscow. At the end of their summer´s work, airplanes flying over could see which towns were beneath them across the whole state. (I thought what a great job it was for Kent who spent so much time in the air later as he worked with ten different western states. After 9/11, he booked the first flight possible and airline crews lined up clapping as, he said, "we intrepid Bird Men disembarked the plane.")

In spite of our ten-year age difference, Kent and I became immediate close friends with similar family backgrounds, values, likes and dislikes. I remember telling him I liked his red shirt the day we met and he was pleased. I said, "Maybe you should iron it," and he burst out laughing because it was indeed terribly wrinkled. Everyone was grieving then about the Vietnam War and Kent wrote a poem called "To Soldiers Lately Killed in a War Soon Over." I typed his Masters theses (Caesar's Soldiers: Presidential Encroachment on the Army Clause) and he got his degree May 1973 which he was glad to have but knew it as a stepping stone towards the Ph.D. he really wanted. His professional life got in the way of his educational life and that goal wasn´t realized, but it was about the only thing missing at the end of the day. (I became his typist for everything he wrote. He would ask 40 years later if I had the piece he wrote about Kennedy visiting Idaho and I did have it and gave it to him.) We found time to talk each day as he walked with me to the Park Building afternoons to deliver department mail and as I gave him the requested rides to his car parked off campus after work. At one point sitting on the grass talking after mail delivery, he said, "I think you have a crush on me." I quickly responded, "It´s YOU who has a crush on me!" and after he thought about it, he realized it was so. We dated three years and got married in 1972 as he began work for the Democratic Party. Our friends and families were closely intertwined and my parents and siblings loved him just as I loved his. (His mother and I exchanged letters every Christmas season until she died and my parents and I traveled to Pocatello for her funeral 39 years later.) Kent and I traveled through Idaho visiting family and through California, the northwest and into Canada seeing places he loved. We danced at Governor´s Balls and I wonder what I might have worn thinking how young and inexperienced I was in such circles-but we aways had so much fun.

Ultimately our marriage did not endure, but our deep and lasting friendship remained one of the most important things to us both for 55 years. We kept in touch always and every important event of our lives was shared with each other. He said I knew him better than anyone else in the world did. We loved this W. H. Auden quote: "Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate." He was so happy for me to meet and marry my husband of 47 years, Milan Buhler, and so happy for the birth of our three daughters and each of our five grandchildren. Kent and I got what we wanted from this life after all.

It was a great pleasure to have Kent live in Utah the last decade or so of his big life. He and I picked out all of his furniture from Pottery Barn in one big day for his Irving Schoolhouse Apartment that he loved with its walking distance movie theaters, restaurants and book stores. He loved the easy access freeway and quick trips he could make to see family in Pocatello. Always, he loved Utah but Idaho owned his heart. After his Alzheimer´s diagnosis, I found the close by Legacy Village of Sugarhouse, which met with approval of others in Kent´s circle, and he moved there. He was sorry to make the change, but came to love his balcony views, great staff and great food at Legacy. He was happy and well loved by everyone there. It is a testament to the cheerful, loving man he was that he had the love and loyalty of so many with him throughout his life and especially those tending to his needs during the final years.

It was a gift from God to sit holding his hand with our dear friend Leah Strate as he passed from this life on April 19 at 11 a.m. It was very peaceful and quite perfect.

Helen Goddard

May 7, 2024

I knew Kent when he studied at the University of Utah in Political Science and then again worked with him during the Governor Matheson's administration. He was such a kind man and had a brilliant as well as practical mind.

Robyn (Horiuchi) Shackelford

April 27, 2024

Oh, my! Kent was a special friend to me and my former husband, Wayne. We were all "politicos" frequently meeting to discuss issues of the day. Kent was a keen leader in Utah in the 1970's, always leading with calm and determination. His passion for politics and governance drove the rest of his impressive career. (I am sure Kent has already been greeted in heaven by all he inspired, including Wayne and Randy Horiuchi. Much gratitude that I knew and am still inspired by the good works of Kent Briggs.

Cynthia Tennant

April 26, 2024

I´m so very grateful that I have had the privilege to call Kent my uncle. I will forever remember Kent & all his big words.

Troy DeMill

April 26, 2024

He was a fantastic brother in law, taking time to play basketball with me and later showing me around Denver when I was a graduate student. Over the years I've associated with some political figures from both parties who always had such love and respect for Kent. A great man.

Michael Zimmerman

April 26, 2024

I remember Kent fondly. When I worked part time as a closet lawyer for Governor Matheson from 1978-84, my titled position was assistant state planning coordinator, in Kent's area. I was new to Utah politics and found working with him and the rest of the staff a graduate education in practical politics. Kent was a good person to work with. He thrived in the political environment, and was extraordinarily good at it. His skills helped make Governor Matheson's time is office uniquely successful. From his obituary, it is clear he continued to use those skills in the service of the public. Condolences to his family on their loss.

Mike Youngren

April 25, 2024

In the next office or just down the street - Kent was always the perfect neighbor, confidant, friend and frequently brilliant co-conspirator. Later, Pal.

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