Dr. Roscoe C. Bryant Jr.

BRYANT, DR. ROSCOE C., JR. 83, died Sunday evening, July 10, 2005, of natural causes at Baptist Hospital Northeast in LaGrange. He was the first African American physician on the Louisville/ Jefferson County Board of Health, who practiced medicine primarily in Western Louisville for nearly 50 years. He was a well-known general practitioner in Louisville and Tulsa, OK. He was honored last fall when ground was broken for the new Stephen Foster Senior Living Plus wellness center in Louisville, which was named the "Dr. Roscoe C. Bryant Holistic Wellness Center." The center is scheduled to open this fall. Dr. Bryant was a native of Fort Worth, TX, and was reared in Tulsa. He was the eldest son of the late Dr. Roscoe C. Bryant Sr. and Curlie Marshall Bryant. He was part of a medical family that included his father, paternal aunts, the first black female dentist in St. Louis, MO, a registered pharmacist, a registered nurse and a pianist. Dr. Bryant was valedictorian of the 1938 graduating class of Booker T. Washington High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and honors in 1942 from Fisk University, where he was a member of the celebrated Fisk University Choir. He also graduated from Meharry Medical College in 1945. He served during World War II as a first lieutenant with US Army Reserve Corps and married his college sweetheart, the former Ruth Booker of Detroit, MI. Dr. Bryant served his internship at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis and moved to Louisville, where he began general medical practice in 1947. By the time he retired, he had served as staff physician and board member at Moton Community Health Center in Tulsa, psychiatric resident at Camarillo Hospital in California and the Red Cross Hospital, the Park DuValle Community Health Center, clinic physician at Central State Hospital and the Well Baby Clinic of the Board of Health, all in Louisville. He was a life member of the NAACP and served as a board member and its vice-president in Tulsa. He was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Tulsa Urban League, the National Medical Association and First Baptist Church of North Tulsa. In the civil rights movement of the 1960s for open housing, Dr. Bryant posted bail for arrested demonstrators and frequently visited local classrooms to discuss medical careers and the importance of education. In serving patients in Western Louisville, he delivered thousands of babies, never turned away patients due to an inability to pay and was one of the last physicians to continue making house calls. Dr. Bryant is survived by his former college sweetheart, wife and companion, Ruth Booker Bryant; his children, Vicki C. Bryant, an attorney of Silver Springs, MD, Louisville Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton, Peggy Bryant Hill (Mark) and Roscoe C. Bryant III (Jennifer) of Indian Head, MD, an attorney; four grandchildren, Christopher and Damien Bryant of Maryland and Victoria and William Hamilton III of Louisville; two brothers, Hubert H. Bryant (Elnora), a former US attorney of the Northern District of Oklahoma, and Marshall P. Bryant (Jewel) all of Tulsa; and many nieces, nephews and other relatives. Cremation was chosen. A memorial reception celebrating Dr. Bryant's life will take place from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, July 23, 2005, at the Holiday Inn, Broadway at 2nd St., Louisville. George R. Mason Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that expressions of sympathy be made to General Alumni Association of Fisk University, 1000-17th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37208 or Hospice & Palliative Care of Louisville.