Baker City, Oregon
Richard M. Bryant, 76, of Baker City died May 31, 2002, at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Lennie Spooner of the Baker City Church of the Nazarene will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be until 7 o’clock tonight at the funeral home.
Mr. Bryant was born April 14, 1926, at Lebanon, Oregon. He was a son of Cassius and Ella Pittman Bryant. He lived and received his schooling in Lebanon.
He entered the U.S. Marine Corps on June 26, 1944, in Portland and proudly served his country for the next two years during World War II. He served at San Ago, Guam, Tinsin, China, and was on Iwo Jima when the atomic bomb was dropped.
He was honorably discharged on May 5, 1946. After his discharge, he returned to Lebanon and married Phyllis Byers. They had four daughters: Jackie, Kathy, Joella and Becky. He was a dairy farmer at Lebanon for 30 years. He sold the farm in 1976 and moved to Baker City in 1977, where he built a house.
In 1978, he went to work for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest as a warehouseman and equipment operator. He retired in 1989.
It was during this time, that he met Ginny, who also worked in the warehouse and office for the Forest Service. They were married on May 10, 1986, at the Nazarene Church. They were very happily married for 16 years and were inseparable. You very seldom saw one without the other.
Dick accepted Jesus as his savior in 1986. He joined the Nazarene Church and was baptized on June 27, 1993, by Pastor Jerry McConnel. After their retirement, Dick and Ginny traveled for three summers until Dick got sick.
He loved to garden and he and Ginny fished a lot. He also enjoyed watching the birds in his back yard as well as carpentering and doing crafts. He also enjoyed bird hunting. He was very talented in shooting pistols and was ranked 18th in the nation by the NRA for target pistol shooting.
He loved people and accepted his two stepchildren, Larry Wright and Ginny Bennet, as his own. He was especially known for his willingness to help, his kindness and for being a good friend. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Ginny, and his family and friends.
Survivors include his wife, Ginny Bryant of Baker City; daughters, Jackie Eckert of Rockaway Beach, Kathie White and Joella Bryant, both of Las Vegas, Nev., and Rebecka Bryant of Portland; two step-children, Larry Wright of Yerington, Nev., and Ginny Bennett of Pendleton; and 12 grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Clarnell Nickles of Albany.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Nazarene Church through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, June 7, 2002
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor