Individual Details
Van Gordon Briles
(25 Mar 1926 - 29 Jan 1990)
As per Worthie Elwood Briles during phone conversation with his daughter Susan Marie Briles Kniebes on January 27, 2003, Van was also born on the "5-Acre Place." Elwood can remember the doctor coming to deliver Van and all of the commotion involved. Of course, Elwood and the older children were not allowed anywhere near the birth activity.
The family had a sign on the "5-Acre Place" that said "Cottage Oaks." The sign was painted by Elwood's father Worthie Harwood Briles, who was a sign painter by trade. The sign looked so nice that folks going by assumed that the family was running some kind of public establishment.
Probably shortly after Van Gordon's birth on the "5-Acre Place," the family either traded that piece of land for the 75-acre Kennedale Farm or sold the "5-Acre Place" and used the proceeds to help by the Kennedale Farm. For more information on the Kennidale Farm, see the Notes for Worthie Elwood Briles and Jack David Briles.
Van served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In a phone conversation on September 16, 2003, Van's younger sister Jeanie Briles Cookston told her niece Susan Kniebes that Van had joined the Navy at the age of 17, right after he graduated from high school in 1944. He served as part of the three-man crew of amphibious boats used to take Marines from larger ships to the shore. He performed this duty in the South Pacific and in the Phillipines.
Page 604 of "The Fighting Men of Texas" (published in 1948 by the Historical Publishing Company of Dallas, Texas) gives the following brief account of Van's World War II experiences below a photograph of him in his Navy uniform:
"Seaman 1/c Van Gordon Briles, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Briles, 3435 E. Rosedale, Fort Worth, Texas, was born March 25, 1926, in Texas. He attended public schools in Fort Worth, and volunteered for service June 5, 1944, at Dallas. Was assigned to the Amphibious Branch of the Navy, receiving his basic training in San Diego, California. Seaman Briles served overseas from October 16, 1944, to December 22, 1945, participating in the American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, Philippine Liberation and Invasion of Okinawa. Honorably discharged June 7, 1946."
The same page of "The Fighting Men of Texas" that contained Van's photo and brief account of his war experiences also contained the photos and war experiences of his brother-in-law, James D. Spencer, and his brothers, W. Elwood Briles and Connally O. Briles.
Most of the jobs that Van had after her returned from World War II involved working in or owning several kinds of retail establishments, including an Army-Navy store.
The list of attendees at the August 4, 1974 Briles Family Reunion at the Legion Hall in Italy, Texas, includes Van and says that he was living in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Social Security Administration's Death Records give Van's death date as January 1990. Their birth date for Van is also as reported above and agrees with the family records. His SS # was 466-26-3740.
On February 6, 2003, Susan Kniebes received a letter from Jewell Briles, the wife of Van's brother Con, saying that she had found the exact date of Van's death in Con's records: January 29, 1990. It is this date that is reported above. On February 7, 2003, Susan received a letter from Bonnie Briles Stokes, Van's sister, in which Bonnie also provided the same exact date of Van's death: January 29, 1990.
Van is buried next to his parents in Shannon Rosehill Memorial Park in Fort Worth.
The family had a sign on the "5-Acre Place" that said "Cottage Oaks." The sign was painted by Elwood's father Worthie Harwood Briles, who was a sign painter by trade. The sign looked so nice that folks going by assumed that the family was running some kind of public establishment.
Probably shortly after Van Gordon's birth on the "5-Acre Place," the family either traded that piece of land for the 75-acre Kennedale Farm or sold the "5-Acre Place" and used the proceeds to help by the Kennedale Farm. For more information on the Kennidale Farm, see the Notes for Worthie Elwood Briles and Jack David Briles.
Van served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In a phone conversation on September 16, 2003, Van's younger sister Jeanie Briles Cookston told her niece Susan Kniebes that Van had joined the Navy at the age of 17, right after he graduated from high school in 1944. He served as part of the three-man crew of amphibious boats used to take Marines from larger ships to the shore. He performed this duty in the South Pacific and in the Phillipines.
Page 604 of "The Fighting Men of Texas" (published in 1948 by the Historical Publishing Company of Dallas, Texas) gives the following brief account of Van's World War II experiences below a photograph of him in his Navy uniform:
"Seaman 1/c Van Gordon Briles, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Briles, 3435 E. Rosedale, Fort Worth, Texas, was born March 25, 1926, in Texas. He attended public schools in Fort Worth, and volunteered for service June 5, 1944, at Dallas. Was assigned to the Amphibious Branch of the Navy, receiving his basic training in San Diego, California. Seaman Briles served overseas from October 16, 1944, to December 22, 1945, participating in the American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, Philippine Liberation and Invasion of Okinawa. Honorably discharged June 7, 1946."
The same page of "The Fighting Men of Texas" that contained Van's photo and brief account of his war experiences also contained the photos and war experiences of his brother-in-law, James D. Spencer, and his brothers, W. Elwood Briles and Connally O. Briles.
Most of the jobs that Van had after her returned from World War II involved working in or owning several kinds of retail establishments, including an Army-Navy store.
The list of attendees at the August 4, 1974 Briles Family Reunion at the Legion Hall in Italy, Texas, includes Van and says that he was living in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Social Security Administration's Death Records give Van's death date as January 1990. Their birth date for Van is also as reported above and agrees with the family records. His SS # was 466-26-3740.
On February 6, 2003, Susan Kniebes received a letter from Jewell Briles, the wife of Van's brother Con, saying that she had found the exact date of Van's death in Con's records: January 29, 1990. It is this date that is reported above. On February 7, 2003, Susan received a letter from Bonnie Briles Stokes, Van's sister, in which Bonnie also provided the same exact date of Van's death: January 29, 1990.
Van is buried next to his parents in Shannon Rosehill Memorial Park in Fort Worth.
Events
| Birth | 25 Mar 1926 | Rural Tarrant County, Texas |  | ||
| Death | 29 Jan 1990 | Brain aneurysm - Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas | | ||
| Burial | Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas | |
Families
| Father | Worthie Harwood Briles (1894 - 1979) |
| Mother | Leona Hays Connally (1896 - 1980) |
| Sibling | Worthie Elwood Briles (1918 - 2016) |
| Sibling | Connally Oran Briles (1919 - 2010) |
| Sibling | Bonnie Bell Briles (1922 - 2014) |
| Sibling | Jack David Briles (1930 - 2005) |
| Sibling | Leona Jean "Jeanie" Briles (1935 - 2020) |
Endnotes
1. Original Briles Family Genealogy Information Collected by Worthie Elwood Briles, Susan Marie Briles Kniebes, Sara Jean Br.
2. Social Security Administration's death records.
3. Photo of grave marker-Unknown.