Jerry Bryant, Sr.

Wednesday, January 23, 1946, was a day that our grandparents, Sebron and Stella Bryant would remember for the rest of their lives. Their baby boy, our dad, Jerry Bryant was born.  Dad enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest.  In school Dad played football and as rumor has it, dad was a character.  Dad graduated from Hillard High School in 1964.  Dad also joined and remained a member at Mother Zion Missionary Baptist Church through out his life. 

Dad met and later married his wife, Shirley.  Those were good days, in the house it was dad, mom, and us… Jerry, Jr., Gary, Sr., Shelia, Lisa and Terry, Sr.  Later dad helped to parent Robert Franklin, Curtis Franklin and Valery Franklin.

Dad was a hard worker at work as well as at home.  Following graduation from high school he started working at Taylor Steve Furniture Store as a furniture deliverer.  He held several positions through his life including that of a truck driver at Alamo, an operator at Tenneco as well as Phillips 66, a painter at STP and Barter and he retired as a boiler maker at Zachry.  However, at home dad worked on cars and taught his sons to work on them also.  Dad had a garage next to our house.  He would tell us what needed to be done and expected it to be completed when he got home from work.  Growing up, dad would buy us cars that he could fix for us and made sure that we knew how to work on them to keep them going.  It was these actions that helped to give us great work ethics.

Dad was stern and he didn’t bite his tongue.  If he liked someone, they knew it; however, if he didn’t, they also knew. But dad was also fair.  He would help anyone, and it didn’t matter how he felt about the person.  Now all of us would hear him gripe, but dad had a heart of gold.  Yeah, he would give you anything you needed and a lot of what you wanted, but you were going to have to hear ‘the speech’ that went along with it.  If you borrowed money from dad, he wanted it back the same way he gave it to you.  If he gave you six ten-dollar bills, you could not repay him with three twenties… that’s not what he gave you! 

After retirement, dad enjoyed riding his motorcycle, hanging out at the park, visiting friends, and passing working on cars to his sons, after all; he was retired.  Most of all, we believe dad lived to argue.  Dad didn’t have a filter and said what he wanted to say.  It was fun to watch him argue with Ozelle Crocket when she didn’t fix his peach cobbler just right.  Well actually, anyone could get a good argument out of him.  Speaking of food, he also loved Shelia’s 7-Up cake.  He would freeze some just so he would never run out. 

On Tuesday, August 17, 2021, dad laid down his tools, motorcycle, and arguing on this side.  We are going to really miss him.  We will honor him by continuing to do what he taught us to do.  There are so many precious memories that are shared by us, his children and stepchildren; Jerry Bryant, Jr., Shelia Anette Bryant, and Terry (Kim) Bryant, Sr., and Gary Bryant, Sr., Robert (Jan) Franklin, Curtis (Chrystal) Franklin, and Valery Franklin, as well as other friends, family members and loved ones. 

We will now also remember our dad when we reflect on our mom, Shirley Bryant, our sister, Lisa Diana Bryant, our grandparents, Sebron and Stella Bryant, and others who transitioned before him.

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