William E. (Bill) Bryant

William E. (Bill) Bryant, 75, passed away peacefully on the evening of Feb 17th, 2015. He was born Dec 29, 1939 in Fordyce Arkansas to William Harrison (Peck) Bryant and Docia Flowers Bryant. Bill was the oldest of 3 siblings. He attended Fordyce High school where he played the drums and worked after school and summers at Boco grocery store to help support his family while his father was away in the military. Soon after graduation, he joined the United States Air Force and served 4 years in the Air Police. During his time in the military, he enjoyed training the sentry dogs used at Air bases all over the world including Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.

Following his discharge from the Air Force, he moved to Houston in 1961 and enrolled in University of Houston where he earned a BS degree in Math. During his college years, he shared a home with 4 other men who became life-long friends. They introduced him to his wife Jean Ann on a blind date to the San Jacinto Monument. They married in 1963 and had two children, Laura and Michael.

Bill was very involved in his children’s activities. He enjoyed spending time as a youth soccer coach, supporting his son who was on the Dobie High Soccer team, and serving as a Boy Scout committee member who camped and traveled often with Troop 773. Any of the kids’ friends were welcomed into the Bryant home and treated as one of the family. Laura and Jean Ann were very involved with Girl Scouts and Bill always had a hot meal ready upon their return from camping trips.

Although Bill’s degree was in math, his focus was on computers. In his later years, he would marvel at the smart phones and modern devices and reflect back on when he used punch cards and computers which filled large buildings. He was proud of his contributions to the space program, and was a support member during the Apollo missions including the well-known Apollo 11 and 13 missions.

In the early 70s, he had the opportunity to take the family with him to live near Frankfurt Germany while working for Univac for 2 years. He was instrumental in developing the passenger reservation and check in system at the Frankfurt airport. Bill and Jean Ann enjoyed their time in Europe by visiting many neighboring countries and seeing many historic buildings. They loved touring the neighboring towns and castles along the Rhine, and especially the wine festivals.

For the majority of his career, Bill was employed by Gulf Oil which later became Chevron where he was occasionally called upon to solve middle-of-the night crises. After early retirement from Chevron, he missed the daily interaction with others and took on the part-time position of Fort Bend ISD School bus assistant helping children with disabilities, a job he truly enjoyed. This job provided the pocket money he used daily to buy donut holes for himself and the dog.

He could often be found sitting on the back porch with his dog watching the ducks on the lake with a fishing pole in his hand. Fishing was one of his favorite things to do throughout his life. His favorite hobby was eating anything that his wife Jean Ann prepared, but he was especially fond of sweets. Jean Ann never served a meal that he didn’t heartily appreciate. He loved to read techno-thriller books and frequently told his family that he couldn’t go to bed until he “got his hero out of trouble”. Bill was a driving force in encouraging the children to follow their dreams and achieve their goals. He supported Jean Ann in her volunteer work with the Girl Scouts and as she became a staff member of Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council.

Pawpaw Bill was always excited to have his grandkids over to visit. He loved spending time with them in the paddleboat out on the lake, on the bicycle headed to the park, or cooking them pancakes. The grandchildren were one of his biggest sources of joy.

In his later years he faced many medical challenges and finally was overcome by multiple organ failure relating to his diabetes. They say dogs are a man’s best friend and if that is true he had three “best friends”. Throughout the years, anytime he was sitting down, he usually had a brown dog on his lap. He was a loving person and faithful husband who could be relied upon to help as needed and always keep his word. Although he lived in Houston for a large portion of his life, he always remained an Arkansas boy. A family ceremony will be held later this spring back in his hometown of Fordyce Arkansas.

Survivors:

Wife Jean Ann Bryant

Daughter Laura Bryant and grandchildren Matthew Lange & Emma Lange

Son Michael and family: Karen Bryant, Kylie Budney & Ryan Turk, Logan Turk

Brother Bob Bryant

Sister Rhonda Morgan

Mother-in-law: Annie Mae Roberts

Numerous nieces and nephews.