Harry Smoak Bryant

1941 - 2024

Harry Smoak Bryant ORANGEBURG, SC - Harry Smoak Bryant, of Orangeburg, SC, passed away on June 4, 2024. Harry was the husband of Bettis Wolfe Bryant. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm, Friday, June 7, 2024, at First Baptist Church of Orangeburg, SC, with Rev. Jerry French and Dr. B.J. Hutto officiating. The family will receive friends following the service in Davis Hall. Harry was born in Orangeburg, SC in 1941, the son of the late Thomas Braxton Bryant, Jr. and Cornelia Smoak Bryant. He attended Orangeburg public schools, graduating from Orangeburg High School in 1960. He was a 1964 graduate of Wofford College, where he was a member of the Glee Club and involved in student government, serving as president of the sophomore class. After graduation, he married Bettis Wolfe, his high school sweetheart.They moved to Columbia, where he received a Juris Doctorate degree in 1967 from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He was a commissioned officer in the United States Army from 1967-1969, serving as captain in the First Infantry Division in South Vietnam from 1968-1969. After his honorable discharge, he practiced law with Bryant Fanning and Shuler LLP in Orangeburg for 40 years, retiring in 2009. He also was an adjunct professor at South Carolina State University and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College. He was a life-long member of First Baptist Church of Orangeburg, where he served as a Sunday School teacher, adult choir member and soloist, deacon and Chairman of the Board of Deacons, and on a number of pastor search committees. Harry was a member of the Orangeburg County, South Carolina and American Bar Associations. He also served as a member and Chairman of the Connie Maxwell Children's Home Board of Trustees and as President of the Wofford College National Alumni Board of Directors. He was a former member of Orangeburg City Council and the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Municipal Association, and past president of the Orangeburg Rotary Club as well as being involved in many other civic organizations. Harry was a former runner, an avid baseball fan and former coach for Little League and junior varsity baseball teams. He had a special love for his college alma mater Wofford College. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Harry Smoak Bryant, Jr. and his wife, Sarah Bush of Chicago, Illinois, John Stafford Bryant and his wife, Celeste of Orangeburg, and a daughter, Hart Bryant Elliott and her husband, Linton of Marietta, Georgia; six grandchildren, Alex Elliott, Bryant Elliott, Annie Elliott, Sellars Bryant, Claire Bryant and Susannah Bryant; one brother, Thomas Braxton Bryant, III and his wife, Linda, and a number of nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to First Baptist Church, Post Office Box 637,Orangeburg, SC 29116 or Orangeburg-Calhoun Free Medical Clinic, Post Office Box 505, Orangeburg, SC 29116. Online condolences may be expressed at www.dukesharleyfuneralhome.com or https://www.facebook.com/Dukes-Harley-Funeral-Home-and-Crematory-304968586272868