Lee Oscar Bryant

1944 - 2015

BRYANT, Lee Oscar Lee Oscar Bryant, age 71 of Blairsville, Georgia passed away on November 5, 2015, after a long battle with cancer at Emory University Hospital. Lee was born in Cordele, Georgia to Evelyn Cauley Bryant and Ernest Bryant on March 27, 1944. He was a devoted husband and father. He was preceded in death by his father, Ernest Bryant. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Kay Cook Bryant, his sons, Kyle and Blaine of Atlanta, his mother, Evelyn Cauley Reddish of Cordele, his father-in-law, Frank Cook of Woodstock, two sisters, Patricia Picardi and Kay Easterlin, brothers-in-law, Ron Cook, Bill Cook and Bennett Easterlin, sisters-in-law Chris Cook and Debbie Cook and numerous nieces and nephews. Lee graduated from Crisp County High in Cordele in 1962 and attended North Georgia College in Dahlonega for 1-1½ years before transferring to the University of Georgia in Athens. His education was interrupted by the Vietnam War in 1966 when he joined the Air Force Reserves. He moved to Atlanta in 1967 and worked for Georgia Power Underground for a short time before his work career began with Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, when there were only regulated companies under the AT&T umbrella (Ma Bell). He provided programming development and support for Southern Bell's billing system which covered nine southern states. At that early computer stage most programming was for the accounting and billing purposes. In the mid-1970's Lee worked on developing an operating system for a new computer platform that would provide for Southern Bell's computer needs for many years. Those developers worked closely with the hardware/software engineers building the computers. He spent time as manager of the computer room and taught SoBell programming classes in 1975. In 1978 Lee was transferred to New Jersey on an AT&T planning project that helped get systems from the feasibility stage to the design stage. He was transferred back to Southern Bell in 1980 and worked during and after the breakup of the AT&T regulated phone companies which had huge impacts internal to the phone companies as well as to its customers. Lee was District Manager in IT Planning and Regional Service Order system support with employees in both Atlanta and Birmingham. In 1995, Lee was promoted to District Manager for the Eastern half of Bell South, which covered North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia and was relocated to Miami. In 1997, he moved back to Atlanta and became Senior Director of Information Technology for Bell South International. This new job involved selling cell phone services all over the world and included travel to many countries he had never seen. Lee retired after 34 years of service with the telephone company in 2001. Lee was a devoted father to his two sons. He coached both in baseball and soccer. Lee and his wife, Kay, were instrumental in starting the Norcross Soccer program in 1981. They worked with several families to convince Gwinnett County to give us land in Jones Bridge Park for the soccer fields. During his long coaching career, he formed a premiere team, which later became a classic traveling team, called the Norcross 76ers in 1986 and kept the team until the boys entered high school in 1994. Then, he and Kay became co-presidents of the Norcross High School Soccer Booster program. Lee loved to hunt and fish, and as a boy, he went fishing with his grandfather, Olen Cauley almost every afternoon during the summer. He loved his motorcycle and enjoyed riding on the curving mountain roads. He also loved to water ski. He played softball during the 1970's with the Southern Bell Area Codes, in the Atlanta City Softball League. And, after retirement, he played and coached the "Gray Panthers" team at Meeks Park in Blairsville. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Marietta Funeral Home, 915 Piedmont Rd., Marietta, www.mariettafuneralhome.org, 770-422-1234. Visitation Thursday, Nov. 12, 6-8pm, visitation Nov. 13, 10am, service at 11am, with burial 1:30pm at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate any donations to go to the Hope Lodge, 1552 Shoup Court, Decatur, GA 30033 in Lee's name.