Anne Bryant

1922 - 2016

Anne Phillips Bryant

Bedford, MA

Anne Phillips Bryant passed, away peacefully on February 13, 2016, at Carlton Willard Village in Bedford, MA. Visited frequently by her four daughters, she was surrounded as well by the caring and attentive Carlton Willard staff. She was 93.

Anne Caroline Phillips was born on August 16, 1922 in Beverly, MA. She is the daughter of the late, Undersecretary of State and Ambassador William Phillips and Caroline Drayton Phillips. Because of William Phillips' diplomatic career, Anne grew up in the United States, Canada and Europe, giving her the gift of speaking French, Italian, and English fluently. She married Captain John W. Bryant in 1942. Together they raised four daughters in Beverly Farms, MA, and built a community of friends and family.

Anne was a volunteer at the Danvers State Hospital, Meals on Wheels, and a longtime member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Beverly Farms.

Her knowledge and love of art, history, New England, and China trade led her to serve as a docent for the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem MA, for many years. Whether the visitors were school children or French and Italian dignitaries, she was ready to share the rich story of early New England trade with China. In addition, her daughters recall how Anne would grab the scariest mask or shrunken head from an exotic foreign country, get on her knees to be at the level of the children and act in wild and crazy ways, sending children of all ages into roaring giggles and laughter.

Family was most important to her. Vacations, skiing, sailing, tennis, or hiking always included family. After moving from Beverly Farms to Manchester in 1995, she loved walking Singing Beach and hiking in the woods of Manchester and Essex, and at Highover, her birthplace, in Beverly. But her favorite place on earth was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, leading her family in all manner of outdoor activities. She loved to travel and was a voracious reader, often sharing the opinions and stories she read of the heart, mind, and spirit. There was not a crossword puzzle she could not conquer in minutes - even Will Shortz.

Above all, her elegance and beauty, her kindness and thoughtfulness of others are what friends, family, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, staff at Carlton Willard, and strangers whom she met for the first time would comment on and remember.

She is survived by her four daughters, two sons-in-law: Cynthia and Hugh Parker (Ridgeland, MS), Rosie and Charlie Woodard (Hingham, MA), Anne Bryant (Arlington, VA), and Alida Bryant (Manchester, MA); 6 grandchildren: Sarah Woodard Goza (Michael) of Chattanooga, TN, Caroline B. Woodard of Dorchester, MA, Jessica Sweeney-Platt (Randy) of Mountain Brook, AL, John B. Sweeney (Mary Virginia) of Vestavia, AL, Charlotte Ross of Studio City, CA and George Ross (Danielle) of Brooklyn, NY. She is also survived by eight great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Beverly Farms on April 16, 2016 at 3pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to The Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem, MA 01970 or to St. John's Episcopal Church, 705 Hale Street, Beverly Farms, MA 01915 in memory of Anne P. Bryant.