June Elaine Briggs

Appropriately named, June Elaine Wolf was born June 1, 1940 after her mother, while in labor, waited sitting on a rock by Pelican Lake for her father to finish fishing before they went to Watertown, South Dakota hospital.

Raised on a Century Family Farm north of Hazel, June walked to teach piano lessons for $1 so she could buy her glasses to see the blackboard at the one room school. She was grateful for the chance to audition (for and receive music scholarships so she could attend and graduate (with zero debt) from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD with a Bachelor of Arts in Organ.

While on staff at the Lake Poinsett Methodist church camp, she met Dinus Marshall Briggs staff lifeguard. After a series of summers, she married Dinus September 2, 1962 in the chapel he helped build at the camp. A skilled, self-taught, seamstress, she sewed her own wedding gown. The newlyweds moved to married student housing at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Weekends were spent working with wife & pastor of a Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania church and doing youth outreach. When the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, Dinus and June’s students’ silent concerns, shared as whispers, wondered whether or not their parents would be called into active military duty (and some were). For their work the Briggs couple had housing and meals provided, and $10 to buy groceries for the week when they returned to campus. June took train into New York City where a class met at the United Nations before receiving her master’s degree in Christian Education from Drew University.

They returned to the Midwest. It was at Iowa State University in Ames for Dinus’ doctorate degree that the couple met friends for life - Rich and Carol Nissen, now of San Diego, CA. They were together when a man walked on the moon for first time. They welcomed daughters Denise Michelle and Deborah Lynn.

Their next residence was a rental in Raleigh, North Carolina. Then their first home was purchased. When the house needed new roof, June and Dinus teamed up and took up a 4am paper route to earn extra money. June would put rubber bands around newspapers so Dinus could drive and deliver them while the girls slept in the back of their only vehicle, a powder blue Dodge station wagon before he reported to research work in Poultry Science at NCSU. The family took trips to Myrtle Beach before explosion as tourist destination. Camping with a tent was started to enjoy outdoors/outings on a budget, but it was a lot of work with meal prep & pack n play full of sand to keep the youngest confined and out of ocean she loved per Briggs. During Christmas season June worked at Hudson Belk department store while Dinus did daddy duty in the evenings.

The 1976 move to Fayetteville, for a job at University of Arkansas, meant they could have horses on an acreage and June ensured daughters had chores. She sewed superb riding habits for Denise’s showmanship and equitation classes, was a 4-H club leader and assisted at the campus bookstore seasonally. She substituted at schools and put her education to work, writing her own curriculum for summer mission studies she led at Mt. Sequoyah Assembly. Camping continued and the family of four traveled to several horse shows with horses, trailer, tack boxes made as 4-H project, in an old stick shift pickup that sat three with no air conditioning!

Despite never learning to swim, June encouraged lessons so girls could swim. Family moved to a new house in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1982 and the girls enjoyed the backyard pool. More trips, sleeping in an extended cab pickup with topper and a tent, took the family all the way to Canada and National Parks. The girls got their Junior Ranger awards for completing camp programs. Special memories also made at the blue water of Crater Lake in Oregon and at the black sand beach in Hawaii. Music was something special shared by Briggs and Wolf family. The girls sang with Wolle’s New Creation choir at St Paul’s UMC. June and Dinus would sit through first service there then leave during last hymn to get to two Trinity Lutheran Church services where June played organ for 26 years before she retired as their music director in 2009. June developed dramas with music for children, chime choirs, camps and adult education for religious life and historical studies. She continued to teach private piano lessons in her home until Dinus’ retirement from NMSU so they could enjoy years of travel together.

June and Dinus were dedicated Mayfield High School volleyball fans, cheering on oldest granddaughter, Allyson Lynn Lucht. Trips to South Dakota allowed attendance at activities for four Renaas grandchildren: Alex Jay (AJ) and Brianna at achievement days, sports and music concerts, Casey’s soccer, baseball, football, and track and Dillon’s aviation events. Dillon and Dinus flew small planes together on discovery flights. Spent Thanksgiving together with the entire extended family at the Plymouth Plantation and trip to Boston, Massachusetts in 2008.

June served as the treasurer for El Paso Riding and Driving club. She and Dinus participated in several parades, functions for NMSU and provided neighbors with horse drawn vehicle entertainment with their Campus Stables selected Saddlebreds.

Valedictorian in her small rural Hazel high school class of twelve, June experienced many blessings in life, and she saw more of the world than she may have imagined as a child. On first trip overseas to see sister stationed in Europe, she saw Sherwood Forest (from folklore of Robin Hood), Enjoyed trips to Alaska’s version of North Pole, a Koala sanctuary in Australia after International Rotary gathering, all animals seen on safari in Africa, a cruise off Greece in Mediterranean, making jewelry on excursion in South America, the Oberammergau Passion Play, fall foliage/Canada by rail, Dinus kissing Blarney stone in Ireland, and trip to Iceland (a tribute her mother in law’s family homeland and inheritance).

June provided long-time service to the local American Guild of Organists. She shared her gift of music accompanying student solos and ensembles, at weddings and with her last public piano performance, playing patriotic tunes for Fourth of July 2025 at Solstice Las Cruces senior living community.

June dabbled in genealogy and traced her heritage back to 1670. She was curator of generations of family photos, memories and mementos. Mrs. Briggs will be interred at a later date near Hazel, SD not far from the family farm. She will be next to her parents, Loren and Blanche (Adams) Wolf who preceded her in death. She won’t be far from final resting place of in-laws Lillian (Dinusson) and Hilton M. Briggs who also preceded her in death. Survived by her sisters: Donna Knight of LaGrange, Indiana and her children Brenda (Tony) Kraft & Jason Knight, and Mavis (Steve) Brink of Hazel, South Dakota and their children Jeremiah (Kaylene) Brink and Maria (Justin) Urlacher. June is also survived by: loving sister-in-law Janice (Robert) Remmele and their son Marshall (Carolyn) of Cincinnati, Ohio. She appreciated their recent support and visits via phone and in person. Carrying on June’s legacy are her husband of 62 years, Dinus Briggs, daughter Denise Briggs (Stuart Schemnitz) of Las Cruces, NM and Allyson Lynn Lucht of Manor, TX. South Dakota Daughter Deborah (Doyle) Renaas and their children AJ (Katharine) Renaas, Casey (Special friend Madison), Dillon all of Nunda, SD and Brianna Jone (derivative of grandma’s name) Renaas of Fremont, NE.

June’s family appreciated all the assistance provided by Ambercare Hospice, L & M Christian Home Care caregivers, Crystal’s staff from Help at Home, and the staff at Solstice Las Cruces to keep comfort the priority before her passing on August 1, 2025.

The family invites friends to June’s celebration of life in the Solstice chapel located at 151 Roadrunner Parkway Las Cruces, NM on Thursday August 7th @ 9:00 a.m.