Faith MacArthur Niday Briggs

Faith Niday Briggs, 80, of Ripplemead, Va., passed away on June 7, 2024, after living with dementia for several years. 

Faith was born in her childhood home in Ripplemead on April 5, 1944, to William Harvey and Berta Anderson Niday and was given the middle name MacArthur, in honor of the World War II general. Faith graduated from Pearisburg High School in 1962 and graduated from Berea College, Ky., in 1967 with a degree in home economics. She worked as an extension agent in Kentucky, teaching sewing and food handling safety, before returning to Giles County in 1975. Later in life she worked as the director of the Giles Senior Center, continuing to teach her love of quilting and crafts, but her lifelong work was as a church musician. Faith began providing worship music at a young age with her sisters by playing and singing at Riverview Union Church, a small rural church that was once on Curve Road in Ripplemead. She often said her claim to fame was that she had played piano in nearly every church in Giles. She was the longtime pianist at the First United Methodist churches in Narrows and Pearisburg. She had a lasting impact by sharing in our community’s joy and grief through playing for hundreds of weddings and funerals in Giles and teaching many children how to play the piano.

Faith was lucky to marry two of her college sweethearts, Lewis Ray Plummer in 1967 and Richard Leroy Briggs in 2004. She loved working in her flowerbeds, spotting native wildflowers on country drives, and telling long embellished stories.

Faith is survived by her husband, Richard Briggs; her children, Dr. William Plummer (Molly Goforth) and Dr. Sarah Plummer; her sister, Carol Doty; her nieces and nephews, William Harvey Niday III (Lynetta), Keith Niday (Dana), John Doty, J.M. Carr, and Dr. Martha Carr; and her granddogs Max and Wesley. 

The funeral service will be held at 11am on June 29, 2024, at Edgewood United Methodist Church in Ripplemead with the Rev. Kim Mustard Goddard officiating. Visitation will be held Friday, June 28, 2024, at Givens Funeral Home from 6 – 8 pm.  The family is being served by Givens Funeral Home in Pearisburg, (540) 921-1650; online at givensfuneralhome.com. 

The family wishes to thank Heritage Hall in Rich Creek for taking care of Faith in her last year.