John Stewart Briggs Put Sound In Talkies For Seattle's Theaters

John Stewart Briggs helped put the talk in talkies. He helped bring the songs of Al Jolson in "The Jazz Singer" to millions.

Ever on the lookout for something to build or fix, Mr. Briggs was one of two engineers picked by Western Electric Co. to install sound systems in the nation's theaters starting in 1925.

"He wanted to be remembered as a pioneer in the sound industry," said his daughter-in-law Carol Peth of Seattle.

Mr. Briggs died Dec. 17 at age 94 in Sun City Palm Springs, Calif.

Born in San Bernardino, Mr. Briggs spent his childhood in Portland and Tacoma. He attended Stanford University, earned an engineering degree at Oregon State in 1922 and did odd jobs including building crystal sets - early radios.

Soon he went to work for Western Electric in Chicago and about the same time met his future wife, studying to be a pianist.

Therein lies a tale of his approach to life and its challenges.

"They saw each other some, but she moved home to Idaho," said Peth. "On Christmas Day 1924 in the middle of a snowstorm, a telegram came from Chicago: `Am coming West to marry you.'

"She picked him up in a Graham-Paige automobile at the train. On the way home it overturned. He simply, quietly got out of the car - he was a big, strong man - and set it right, and they were on their way."

Peth called Mr. Briggs "a real English gentleman," a gentle, loving, yet industrious man.

He solved problems in a systematic, creative way, servicing sound systems for 40 years, said his son James Briggs of Bellevue.

"Western Electric changed hands several times. He stayed with it. He worked a lot with television when it first came in. He liked to tell of when he kept a station on the air using a paper clip and bubble gum. He was good at improvising."

His son Jack Briggs of Seattle said his father came here in 1929 to put sound in the old Liberty Theater so it could play "The Jazz Singer," the first talkie.

Mr. Briggs also installed sound in the Fifth Avenue, Coliseum, Blue Mouse, Mayflower, Varsity and Neptune theaters.

When stereophonic sound came in, he installed that, too.

In 1958 Mr. Briggs - "a frustrated builder" - got into construction: He built an apartment building on Capitol Hill.

He retired from his engineer's job at 65 and went into construction full time with two sons, erecting buildings in Madison Park and on Queen Anne Hill and Mercer Island.

In 1982, he and his sons bought Grosvenor House in Belltown.

He enjoyed boating and fishing, putting his own boat in Puget Sound as late as this year. He was on crew teams at university. He had hunted ducks and deer, in younger days.

This year Mr. Briggs and his wife, Bunny Briggs, built a home in Sun City Palm Springs.

"I asked Daddy if, at 94, he really wanted to do this," said his son Jack. "He said, `If I don't build it this year, I might not build it next.' "

Other survivors include his son Richard Briggs of Bellevue, three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and brothers Ben, Lacey and Stanford Briggs of Holland, Mich.

Services are private. Remembrances may be made to any charity.