Max B. BRYAN

LUMBERTON, N.C. - Max Biggs Bryan, of Lumberton, N.C., died at Southeastern Regional Medical Center on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009.
He was born in Tar Heel, N.C., on Jan. 6, 1925. He was the seventh child of John and Maris Bryan of Bladen County.
Mr. Bryan served in the United States Army during World War II, as an original member of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion. The battalion received the rarely awarded Presidential Unit Citation for heroism in February, 2001. He later served in the 82nd Airborne. Mr. Bryan also received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
In 1989, during the 45th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Mr. Bryan was reunited with a Belgian woman and her son, whom he had rescued from under enemy fire during battle in Rochelinval.
Mr. Bryan was an Eagle Scout and a 58-year member of the Masonic Lodge. He was a member of the Yorktown Masonic Lodge, #1. He retired from NASA- Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., in 1986 and was the founding Chairman of the Hampton Roads Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and the Battle of the Bulge Association.
Mr. Bryan is survived by Doris Williams Bryan, his wife of 57 years; his two children, Gordon Bryan of Germantown, Tenn., and Cynthia Wheelehan (Boo) of Carrollton, Va.; and two grandchildren, William Bryan of Germantown, Tenn., and Sarah Dawkins of Cordova, Tenn.
In lieu of flowers, the Bryan family requests you send a donation to The Southeastern Hospice House, 1100 Pine Run Drive, Lumberton, NC 28358 or www.srmc.org.
A memorial service will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, at Biggs Funeral Chapel, with the Revs. James Lawson Bryan and John L. Bryan II, officiating. The family will greet guests following the service. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.