Richard Whitney Bryant

Richard Whitney Bryant Dick Bryant was born on October 17, 1919 in Lexington, MA to Robert and Ethel Bryant. After being raised in Lockport, NY, he attended Amherst College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. Dick graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1945 and made the decision to go into mission work in China with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Dick and his first wife, Adeline Fox Bryant, went to China in 1946, residing in Beijing while doing language study. Following the death of Adeline in childbirth, Dick fell in love with Evelyn Coovert, a Lutheran missionary nurse working in Tsingtao. They were married on December 31, 1948. Driven out of China by the communists, Dick and Evelyn were sent to Thailand. The first period of his service was at McGilvary Theological Seminary in Chiengmai. After ten years, the Bryants moved to southern Thailand helping with country churches and doing evangelism. Dick and Evelyn returned to Chiengmai in 1977 when Dick was made the Director of McKean Rehabilitation Institute, a facility for the treatment and vocational training of leprosy patients. Richard and Evelyn retired in 1986. After retirement they return to Thailand as volunteers on at least five occasions, the most recent being in 2006. The Bryants lived in a number of places in the States, the most recent being Stephenville, Texas. Dick passed away on April 19, 2008 after a recent diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Dick was a devoted family man who dearly loved and was proud of his children. He was also a faithful servant of the Lord to the end, even mouthing the words as scriptures were read and hymns sung around his bed in his final days. He is survived by Evelyn, his loving wife of 59 years, son Ken (Susie) of Greenville, IL; daughter Sharon of Stephenville, Texas; son John (LeeAnna) of Manassas, VA; and daughter Carol (Tim) of Seattle, WA; and grandchildren Julian, Christine (Josiah), Sara, Alethea, Ileah, Kimberly and Ryan. In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to McKean Rehabilitation Institute (P.O. Box 53, Chiangmai, Thailand) or the Worldwide Mission Program of the United Presbyterian Church, USA (100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202).