Murphys, CA…Brittany Meredith-Layne Duggan, 42, of Murphys, California, passed away on March 31, 2026, after a seven-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Brittany was deeply loved by her family and community and was known for her beautiful singing voice, her generous spirit, and her lifelong service to others.

Brittany was born to Garry and Karlinda (Moorlag) Moes on August 9, 1983, in Helena, Montana. As a toddler, she lived with her family in Sweden from 1985 to 1987, where she was beloved by locals for the way she spoke “Swenglish.” When she was four years old, the Moes family moved to Murphys, California. She completed kindergarten at Chalcedon Christian School and later attended Christian Family Learning Center, now Libertas Academy, joining in third grade when the school was founded in 1991.

Music was one of Brittany’s earliest gifts. She sang sweetly in the lead role of “Hark, the Herald Angel” in the first Christmas musical CFLC performed. She graduated from that school in eighth grade and continued her high school studies at home. Even as a young girl, she was active in her community. She played softball throughout elementary school, sang at local events, churches, and weddings, participated in many community service projects, worked as a waitress in Murphys, and represented Calaveras County in the Junior Miss Calaveras court in 1997 and as Miss Calaveras in 2001.

As she entered adulthood, Brittany hoped to use her gift of song in meaningful ways. During one summer in her later high school years, she toured with the singing ministry The Young Continentals, traveling to churches and performing to help raise support for missions projects in the United States and around the world. In 2001, she entered the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where she earned her degree in Music Therapy. Her primary instrument of study was voice, though she learned several other instruments as well, which she later used in her work as a music therapist and as a Kindermusik teacher.

While attending Pacific, she met David Duggan, a Student Advisor and music major at the conservatory, and quickly knew he would be the one she would spend the rest of her life with. They were married in a fairy-tale wedding in 2004, accompanied by trumpet and pipe organ in the beautiful Morris Chapel on the University of the Pacific campus. Brittany graduated in 2005 and began working as a music therapist in the Sacramento area while she and Dave were still living in Stockton.

In 2006, Dave was hired as Director of the Performing Arts Center at Bret Harte Union High School in Angels Camp, California. They moved back to Brittany’s hometown of Murphys and put down deep roots in the community. They welcomed their first son, Miles, in 2008. Shortly afterward, Brittany stopped commuting to Sacramento and devoted herself fully to raising their growing family. Their second son, Josiah John (JJ), was born in 2011, their third son, Benjamin, in 2013, and their youngest child and only daughter, Annaliese, in 2017.

Brittany devoted her life to the care of her family, and she loved them fiercely. She was incredibly proud of her husband, Dave, and his many talents and hard work. She especially loved every opportunity to hear him perform in local bands and regional orchestras. She homeschooled Miles, Ben, and Annaliese from kindergarten through the beginning of her illness. She made sure JJ had everything he needed in his special education and was a joyful advocate for him and for the broader Down syndrome community.

She did not simply bring her children to art classes, clubs, church functions, music lessons, and sporting events. She also taught, coached, and mentored in all of those spaces. She founded and taught in several local homeschool groups and was always ready to help guide other families in their homeschooling journeys. She loved spending time with her parents, who lived just down the road from her for several years. She loved her siblings and in-laws and always made family gatherings and memory-making a priority.

Brittany was a woman of many talents and joys, from skiing at Bear Valley to throwing a hammer farther than any of the other women at the church Memorial Day picnic to baking fresh sourdough bread for her family. She was full of fun and laughter, gifted at forming and keeping friendships, and carried herself with a gentle, loving dignity that made people respect her and value her words.

She was also a faithful and active member of her church. She was often the first to serve, whether in large ways or small. She directed the women’s ministry, managed the nursery, taught Sunday school, helped with Christmas plays, poured hundreds of hours into summer VBS, decorated for weddings, participated in the music ministry, planned church family camping trips and women’s retreats, and organized meal trains whenever they were needed. She was often among the first to bring a meal to those welcoming a new baby or walking through illness or loss.

In the broader community, she served with the same wholehearted devotion. She was passionate about advocating for the precious lives of the unborn and served on the board of the Calaveras Pregnancy Center. She attended Community Bible Study for more than a decade and led the group in song each week. She loved the County Fair and the Miss Calaveras pageant, and she sponsored, mentored, and took many young women shopping for their pageant gowns. She led story time at the library for a season and even kept the program going virtually during the COVID lockdowns through crafts, music, and stories, offering something special to many families during that difficult time.

The Duggan family also welcomed several local foster children into their home right up until the time Brittany became ill. She loved each of those children deeply and treated them as her own while they were in her care. She carried each of them in her heart and prayers even after they left her home.

Every Christmas, Brittany touched hundreds with her heartfelt singing, both as a soloist and as a member of the choir in the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. It was rare for her to finish a song without bringing tears to the eyes of those who heard her. Music remained one of the clearest expressions of who she was: tender, joyful, faithful, and full of grace.

Brittany Duggan was a bright and shining light wherever she went. She accomplished more in 42 years than many do in 90. She was humble, generous, hardworking, loving, and kind. Her absence will be felt in every corner of her community. Her shoes will be hard to fill, but her legacy and example will continue to shape and inspire generations to come.

Brittany is survived by her husband of 21 years, David Duggan; her children, Miles (18), Josiah (15), Benjamin (12), and Annaliese (9); her mother, Karlinda Moes; and her four siblings, Graham Moes (Roslyn), Brook Moes (Tonya), Shiloh Hand (Mark), and Marijke Joubert (Pierre). She was preceded in death by her father, Garry Moes.

She was a loving and faithful wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, and she will be remembered with deep love and admiration.

A memorial service celebrating her life will be held at the Bret Harte Theater in Angels Camp on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 1:00 p.m.