Robert Bryant

Robert Bryant Robert Bryant, of Austin, died Friday, February 19, 2010. Memorial Service: 3:00 p.m. Sunday, March 7, 2010, Unity Church of the Hills, 9905 Anderson Mill, Austin, with service conducted by Rev. Robert Breihan. Robert Rogers Bryant was born on April 17, 1922 in Houston, Texas to Arthur and Lillian Hunt Bryant. Bob attended Baylor University and Berkeley Baptist Divinity School in Berkeley, California. Inspired by his grandfather, the legendary Baptist minister, M. P. Hunt, Bob became Campus Minister at UC Berkeley, later moving to First Baptist Church in Bozeman, Montana. In 1959, Bob and his young family arrived in Austin, after a trip across the United States, including a stop to worship in Montgomery, Alabama at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was then minister. Bob began his career in Austin at the Christian Faith and Life Community, which evolved into the Laos House, where Bob orchestrated a variety of workshops and group weekends at the Lodge on Cypress Creek. Participants in Laos House workshops have described them as "life-changing." Gaynell Methvin, President of the Board of The Laos House, describes Bob as "the heartbeat of the Laos House community, a man of vision and character, full of surprises, and a truly exceptional man." Bob is remembered as a loving, gentle yet vibrant spirit, a true "people person" who touched the lives of many, from the young couples whose wedding ceremonies he performed through the Roger Williams Club in California (many of whom kept up with him for over fifty years) to the hundreds of participants in Laos House programs. After retirement, Bob courted and married his long time friend, Mary Lou Dawson Brookman of Fort Worth. The two enjoyed life in Austin, especially the Austin Symphony and Lady Longhorns basketball, and loved to travel the back roads of Texas. Annual family reunions in Scottsdale by way of the Grand Canyon were especially treasured. Bob is survived by his wife, Mary Lou; his brothers, Art and wife Barbara of Denver, and Don, of Scottsdale; by his children, Ellen Clark, Kristine Becker and husband Larry, of Round Rock, Ross Bryant and wife Barbara of Austin, and Kerry Lemon and husband Jim of Nacogdoches; grandchildren, Michele Pierce, David, Keith, and Sarah Becker, Mason and Avery Bryant, and Maya and Forest Lemon; as well as five great-grandchildren and many beloved nieces, nephews and friends.