Herschel BRYANT

BRYANT, HerschelAge 100, formerly of Stone Mountain, GA, died at his daughter's home in Indian Springs, AL on June 11, 2013. Mr. Bryant was born on April 7, 1913 on his family's farm in Wayne County, TN, the oldest of Lula and Eldridge Bryant's four children. He graduated from high school in Collinwood, TN in 1930. Orphaned at age 23, he became schoolmaster of the one room schoolhouse in Wayne County and worked summers surveying the Natchez Trace for the Bureau of Public Roads. In World War II, he served in the Navy Seabees, first in North Africa and then in the South Pacific. After the war, he completed a degree in civil engineering at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. On graduating, he took a job with the Federal Highway Administration, for whom he worked for the rest of his professional career. He married Veatrice Ragland in 1950, and they shared 45 happy years together. All who knew Mr. Bryant recognized him as a man with a keen intelligence, a generous heart, and a peaceful spirit. He was a talented engineer and administrator, eventually heading the Federal Highway Administration in Georgia. He read widely and had a remarkable memory; he was a lover of classical music; he was a gifted gardener, creating beautiful flower and vegetable gardens wherever he lived; and he was a Southern Baptist of the old school: deacon, tither, friend to the poor - a faithful supporter of the Salvation Army, Atlanta Union Mission, and numerous other charities at home and abroad; moderate in his own beliefs, he was gracious and accepting of others'. Most of all, he was a devoted and loving husband and father. Most remarkable in his last years was his optimism. He remained interested in the future, seldom complained, and was always appreciative of the things people did for him. He had lived a long life and a good life, and he was patient and content in leaving it. He is predeceased by his wife, Veatrice Ragland Bryant, and his sister, Edith Legg of Monroe, MI. He is survived by two daughters, Kay Bryant (Curtis Graves) of Tucker, GA and Jane Chaplin (David) of Indian Springs, AL; three grandchildren: Vernon Chaplin (Cathy) of Pasadena, CA, Rosalind Chaplin of Vancouver, CN and Daniel Chaplin of Indian Springs; two sisters, Era Gober of Madison, AL and Eva Nell Bryant of Greenwood, AK; and seven nieces and nephews. Special thanks to the kind and dedicated caregivers who helped make his last years comfortable: Dorothy, Vivian, Frederica, Bernard, Susan, and Mary.